With Real Madrid having clarified that they will participate in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup contrary to earlier reports, it would have been regrettably elitist of the European champions to boycott the tournament that now comprises four CAF teams, writes Lukhanyo Mtuta.
On Monday, reports surfaced online quoting Real boss Carlo Ancelotti as seemingly confirming that his side will not take part in the Club World Cup next year in June. With the news spreading like wildfire, Los Blancos were relatively swift in doing damage control, issuing a statement denying suggestions they would not honour their invite to the competition.
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A statement on the club's official website read: "Real Madrid CF announces that at no time has its participation in the new Club World Cup to be organized by FIFA in the upcoming 2024/2025 season been questioned. Therefore, our club will compete, as planned, in this official competition that we face with pride and with the utmost enthusiasm to make our millions of fans around the world dream again with a new title."
For millions of football fans and neutrals, this confirmation would come as a relief as the prospect of arguably the biggest club in the world pulling out of the showpiece would not only be a huge controversy, but would ultimately set a worrying precedent going forward for elite teams.
Admittedly, the new 32-team format of the CWC has drawn a number of critics since it was announced in December 2023, and organisations such as the players' union FIFPro and top flights such as the Premier League and LALIGA have threatened to boycott the event next year, with player welfare believed to be at the heart of their protest. Indeed, these concerns are valid, with globally recognised stars and coaches such as Virgil van Dijk, Pep Guardiola and Rodri previously expressing concerns over the piling of domestic and international games in the calendar.
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This matter has been put forward to FIFA with some merit, but it is equally true that the new format is set to make the CWC the most inclusive club tournament in the world, bringing together the most successful sides from each of the six international confederations: AFC, CAF, Concacaf, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA. In many ways, this new format will revolutionise the CWC, moving away from its previously dull format of nine teams playing across a two-week period, while the champions of UEFA were automatically guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals of the competition.
The new structure of the CWC will see 32 teams drawn in eight groups of four. Each side will play a single match against their group opponents, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the round of 16. From that stage onwards, teams will play a single knockout game until the final, and there will be no third-place play-off.
Ultimately, this offers a glorious opportunity for qualified CAF clubs such as Al Ahly, Wydad Casablanca, Esperance de Tunis and Mamelodi Sundowns to feature against world-class opponents like Real Madrid. For many Africans, perhaps barring Egyptians, the opportunity to see a continental club playing top opponents such as Manchester City, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan doesn't come around too often. European club football is heralded as the most elite level of the sport and maybe fairly given the amount of investment and world-class players playing there.
Real Madrid boycotting the tournament would have constituted yet another play to maintain the status quo, which seems to suggest at times that Europeans are the best and football outside that continent is not as meaningful.
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Essentially, it would've been in bad faith for Real to abandon the Club World Cup as it would partly imply that their status as an elite club allows them to pick and choose which global tournaments take priority in terms of participation. For a club like Sundowns, though, the 2025 Club World Cup is set to be the biggest tournament they have ever participated in and that alone should explain what it means for their fans, South Africa, and the continent of Africa as a whole.
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