Chaos at Real Madrid Over Club World Cup
Real Madrid has issued a statement confirming their participation in the new Club World Cup next season, following comments by their coach, Italian Carlo Ancelotti, who stated in an interview in his home country that the team would not compete.
"Real Madrid C. F. announces that at no time has its participation in the new Club World Cup organized by FIFA for the next 2024/2025 season been questioned. Therefore, our club will participate, as planned, in this official competition, which we approach with pride and the utmost enthusiasm to once again make our millions of fans around the world dream of a new title," the club published on its website.
These were the controversial statements made by the Italian coach: "FIFA can forget about it; the players and the clubs will not participate in that tournament. A single match for Real Madrid is worth 20 million, and FIFA wants to give us that amount for the entire cup. No way. Like us, other clubs will reject the invitation," he said in an interview with "Il Giornale" about the tournament.
On the other hand, Ancelotti also clarified his statements, which he said had not been interpreted correctly: "My words about the FIFA 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 in a tournament that I consider a great opportunity to keep fighting for major titles with Real Madrid," he posted on his official X account.
The Club World Cup will debut its new format in the summer of 2025, from June 15 to July 13, and will be contested by 32 teams from the six confederations.
