FIFA has now issued a response to threats against the organising of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which Mamelodi Sundowns will participate in.
This week, global players' union FIFPRO and the World Leagues Association (WLA) sent a letter to FIFA demanding the rescheduling of the next year's Club World Cup, which is set to be played from 15 June to 13 July 2025 in the United States.
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The two organisations threatened to take legal action against the world football organising body due to concerns over player welfare, which stem from a congested football calendar.
According to Sky Sports, the letter from FIFPRO and WLA letter stated: "FIFA has continually and consistently made unilateral decisions that benefit its own competitions and commercial interests, while negatively affecting national leagues and players. Over a significant period, FIFA has ignored repeated attempts by leagues and unions to engage on this issue."
"As a result of FIFA's recent strategy of expanding its own competitions, the calendar is now beyond saturation, to the point that national leagues are unable to properly organise their competitions, resulting in economic harm, whereas players are being pushed beyond their limits, with significant injury risks and impacts on their welfare and fundamental rights.
"Leagues and players cannot simply be expected to 'adapt' to FIFA's decisions, which are driven by FIFA's business strategy. We have reached the point where this situation must immediately be addressed both from a procedural and substantive perspective."
FIFA has quickly responded to the letter, insisting that the timing of the tournament, which has been expanded to 32 clubs, has been "harmoniously aligned" with the football calendar.
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"The FCWC tournament dates (15 June – 13 July) have been set to ensure that the scheduling of the tournament is harmoniously aligned with the IMC to allow sufficient time between the tournament final and the start of the season in many domestic leagues globally, and considering that a minimum of three days of rest between matches should be guaranteed in order to safeguard player welfare," a statement from FIFA reads, according to Ahram Online.
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