CUP FOR IT
Real Madrid insist they WILL play in controversial Fifa Club World Cup after Carlo Ancelotti’s bombshell interview
Chiefs are concerned the new-look tournament could lead to the size of domestic leagues being reduced
REAL MADRID are set to play in the controversial Club World Cup after Carlo Ancelotti backtracked on claims they would reject their invite.
Fifa have revamped the tournament to make it a 32-team event, with the first edition to be held in the United States at the end of next season.
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On Monday morning, Madrid manager Ancelotti seemingly claimed his team have no interest in it during an interview with Il Giornale.
He said: "Fifa forgets that the teams will not participate in the new Club World Cup.
"A single Real Madrid match is worth £20million and Fifa wants to give us that amount for the entire tournament.
"We will decline the invitation."
But, in a huge twist, Real Madrid put out an official statement to say at "no time has their participation been questioned."
Ancelotti then performed a U-turn on his comments, saying: "In my interview with Il Giornale, my words about the Club World Cup have not been interpreted in the way I intended.
“Nothing could be further from my interest than rejecting the possibility of playing a tournament that I think can be a great opportunity to continue fighting for great titles with Real Madrid”.
The new-look Club World Cup is set to take place from June 15 to July 13 in 2025.
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Teams from six confederations will take part, with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Juventus already qualified.
But the tournament's expansion has been slammed by the global union of professional players Fifpro over concerns about player welfare due to the added fixtures to an already congested schedule.
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LaLiga chief Javier Tebas is also worried that Fifa will try to force some domestic leagues to cut down from 20 to 18 teams.
He said: "If we don’t take action the industry is in danger, right now. Fifa's solution is just to create new competitions.
“But for that to happen and for us to be able to fit these competitions in, we would have to lose two clubs from La Liga.
“That would mean we'd have to make 70 players unemployed at those clubs and it would lose thousands of jobs related to those clubs.
“We need to fix the current problems before creating new competitions that will destroy the industry, clubs, jobs, the dreams of fans - and football.”
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PFA chief Maheta Molango has claimed Premier League stars are ready to go on strike rather than play against their will.
Clubs and unions may also come together to launch a legal challenge that the current Club World Cup plans must be axed.
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