DUBAI // Fifa are convinced next year’s Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi will be a success, both on and off the pitch.
The UAE capital has been chosen to host the inter-continental competition in successive years from next December, the third time the event has been staged there after taking place in 2009 and 2010.
Fifa are considering revamping the Club World Cup, with suggestions they could even expand the six-team tournament to 32, however football’s governing body said that, while they plan to discuss potential revisions next year, they will not implement any changes until 2019.
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Speaking on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Dubai International Sports Conference, Fifa vice president Victor Montagliani, who also acts as president of Concacaf, said he is certain Abu Dhabi will justify Fifa’s decision to award the Emirates the next two tournaments.
“We’re very confident,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it. The UAE has shown in the past that, any time they put their foot forward on any international event, it goes well. So we’re confident.
“We feel the event as a whole is bigger than the sum of its parts. It’s not just about these six teams, it’s about you having a World Cup. You have a World Cup in Abu Dhabi. Just those two words — World Cup — are huge. Transcending what the six teams are and realising that you have a world event right in your backyard is probably the way to go to make it a success.”
Montagliani said Fifa would consider the event a triumph based on four factors: good football, full stands, a healthy television audience and the local legacy it creates. The 2016 Club World Cup, which finished on December 18, made positive headlines when Japan’s Kashima Antlers reached in the final in Tokyo — the first time an Asian team had contested the showpiece. They were eventually defeated in extra time by European champions Real Madrid.
Montagliani did concede the tournament has become “a bit stale” because of the domination of its European and South American entrants — they have shared the 13 titles since its inception in 2000 — but he dismissed the idea that the Abu Dhabi tournament will be dependent on a local team emulating or bettering Kashima’s performance.
“Obviously it’d be great for the UAE and for the region to have happen what Kashima did this year,” Montagliani said. “Any time a local team gets to a final and even wins it is just icing on the top of the cake at any competition. As for the Club World Cup, people in this region enjoy good football, so if it’s [Lionel] Messi or [Cristiano] Ronaldo in the final, or anyone else, I think they’d be OK with that.”
Meanwhile, Fifa president Gianni Infantino said he is not concerned about poor attendances affecting next year’s Club World Cup. In 2009 and 2010, only the matches involving Barcelona and Inter Milan experienced near-capacity crowds at Zayed Sports City.
“I’m sure the attendance will be very good,” Infantino said. “I was here in 2010 in Abu Dhabi for the final between Inter and TP Masembe from Africa and the stadium was full. When there are good matches, when the quality is there, people attend and they come to matches. With the passion that exists in this part of the world for football, I’m sure you will see great crowds.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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