Don't mess around in America: What's wrong with the FIFA Club World Cup

The updated international tournament in 2025 has crossed the equator. The group stage has ended, the 1/8 finals match is coming to an end, and some quarterfinal pairs are already known: Brazilian Fluminense will play with Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia, which sensationally knocked out English Manchester City, Palmeiras will face London Chelsea, and the current winner of the Champions League. PSG will face Bayern Munich. However, by the "holiday" of football in the USA, where the tournament is taking place, a lot of questions have already arisen. The organization of the tournament and its purpose in general have been criticized by quite reputable experts. Let's figure out what's going on.

Problems with tickets and attendance

It's all the fault of low demand. FIFA's efforts to attract fans to the stands probably weren't enough, to put it mildly. The low level of interest in the tournament can be judged by the dynamics of ticket pricing. Initially, prices for the group stage matches started in the range of $100-200, but demand turned out to be low: less than a month before the opening, some tickets were sold at prices ranging from $20-24.

Two days before the opening match between the Egyptian Al-Ahly and the American Inter Miami (with Leo Messi himself in the squad!) only 20 thousand tickets were sold. And this is with a stadium capacity of 65,000 people.

— To be honest, the atmosphere in the arena was strange, we were a little unaccustomed to this, — Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca did not hide his surprise. — Well, we'll have to adapt to the new conditions and show professionalism.

Sensing something was amiss, FIFA went to extreme measures. Firstly, it began to reduce the cost of tickets and even introduce special offers. For example, students from Miami could not only buy one ticket for $3.5, but also get four free tickets. Secondly, so that the television picture would not be so sad, the organizers tormented themselves with overlapping entire sectors behind the gates and transplanted the audience closer to each other to the central stands, which fall into the lenses of television cameras. So they artificially created a hype effect.

"If price cuts, section closures, and audience transfers prove anything, it's only that people aren't rushing to the World Club Championship," the AP authors stated.

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As a result, eight of the 16 matches of the first and second rounds of the group stage were held with a grandstand occupancy rate of less than 55%. In the third round, the picture got worse — ten games with the same indicators. The anti—record of the group stage was the match between Ulsan and Mamelodi, which on June 18 attracted an insignificant 3,412 spectators for a tournament of this status (with a total capacity of 25,500 at the Orlando arena). At RPL matches, with all the known limitations, the stands are even better filled. There is a serious reason to think. This includes the expediency of the current format, in which we receive matches between clubs from South Korea and South Africa, which few people may be interested in their signage.

Infrastructure and security

The tournament is new, but the stadiums are old. Not all of them, of course, but for a competition of this status, the pictures from some arenas made you want to cry. For example, the PSG – Atletico Madrid match. It looks like a cool sign, but they played at the ancient Rose Bowl stadium. Old seats, a scoreboard, an imperfect lawn with bumps on the field. It was as if time had frozen and the 1994 World National Team Championship did not seem to end here.

Moreover, many matches took place against the background of the riots in Los Angeles. People staged protests against police immigration raids. And this caused the players to worry.:

— Sirens are heard, helicopters are flying, and so on. People are taking to the streets. We are in a hotel where there is enough security. Nevertheless, it's not pleasant," admitted Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Weather conditions

During the days of the World Club Championship in the USA, the weather was quite hot. And it's not a surprise: it's always like this in June and July. So the organizers knew what they were doing, and it's strange that they didn't take all this into account.

Take the same PSG – Atletico match. While the players were running around the field, it was +40 outside. Hence the drop in pace, increased fatigue, and even the risk of injury.

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Both sides complained about the weather.

— Of course, it's difficult to play in this weather, — said PSG midfielder Vitinha. — It concerned both us and Atletico. Perhaps it was a little more difficult for the opponent because he defended more. Personally, it was not easy for me to run after the ball. It's very hot, I'm all red.

Atletico midfielder Marcos Llorente spoke out sharply.:

— It's impossible to play in this weather, it's terrible! Everything hurts after the match! And during the meeting, I couldn't stop or take the ball... It's crazy.

This whole situation may lead to some top clubs losing important players for a while to solve more serious problems, as their form at the beginning of the season may leave much to be desired.