Just when you thought football couldn't become more daft...
"Clubs participating in next summer's Club World Cup
will have to take their strongest squads and field their strongest teams.
FIFA's expanded new 32-team tournament is scheduled to take place in the United States from June 15 to July 13 next summer.
Manchester City and Chelsea are the only English teams taking part and FIFA regulations mean they will not be able to allow any players to miss the tournament after a long season of domestic and European football.
In a further move to make sure squads are as strong as possible, FIFA will allow the member associations of all participating teams to open their transfer window from June 1-10 2025 so new signings can be registered before the tournament starts on June 15.
Clubs can also replace players during a restricted in-competition period from June 27 to July 3 within a set limit and according to specific limitations, including the fact that a "standard" registration window must be open for the club at the time."
Opinion: Enough is fuckin enough! How can FIFA dictate to clubs which players they must take & play? Both City & Chelsea will be at a disadvantage for the 2025 - 2026 season, as both will essentially have been playing continuous football for two season without a break.
To further illustrate how bent & self-serving football's governing body is, they're creating a special transfer window for the tournament, with players out of contract in June being able to extend their contracts until July 13th.
On top of this, Beckham's Inter Miami are rumoured to be in-line for an invite to take part, so Messi can participate! To win the tournament we'll have to play SEVEN GAMES, with the PL season ready to restart 4 weeks later!
This is utter fuckin madness driven by sheer greed!! What I don't get is why Soriano is reportedly helping FIFA to promote the tournament, that risks further burnout & injury to our team?
https://www.skysports.com/share/13227224