With many in Europe voicing complaints about the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, a Bayern Munich chief has taken a rogue stance compared to some of their European counterparts, explaining why players should stop complaining about the tournament.
The new 32-team Club World Cup has faced an onslaught of criticism from various clubs, coaches, leagues, and organisations such as FIFPRO, the International Federation of Professional Footballers.
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When discussions about introducing an expanded Club World Cup were first presented, UEFA was among the first critics of the expansion, while domestic top flights such as the Premier League and LaLiga also expressed their opposition to the tournament.
These organisations raised concerns about the congestion of the football calendar, noting that player welfare would be compromised.
In June 2024, FIFPRO took legal action against FIFA over the staging of the new Club World Cup, claiming that "players and their unions have consistently highlighted the current football calendar as overloaded and unworkable."
Contrastingly, many non-European confederations have been notably less vocal about the competition, with reports suggesting they view the expanded tournament as a great opportunity for their clubs to compete at a high level and grow commercially.
Now, Bayern's supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has defended the Club World Cup, taking a different stance from some of his European counterparts, stating that players shouldn't be complaining about the showpiece.
According to Tribuna.com, the German official said: "Our footballers need to stop complaining. Every contract negotiation I've witnessed always goes in one direction: players ask for more, higher, faster. But all that money has to come from somewhere.
"It's a good thing the German league has managed to maintain and even improve its TV revenues by 2%. But players and their agents demand more, so they won't stop at 2%. Then the money will have to come from other competitions, such as the new Club World Cup.
"It's a trap footballers set for themselves."
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By Lukhanyo Mtuta
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