Aleksander Ceferin ‘to meet’ Nasser Al-Khelaifi amid UEFA push to end Club World Cup | OneFootball

FIFA has reversed its plan to sell stakes in its national-team World Cup, prompting UEFA to drop a threatened boycott. Relations remain fragile, with UEFA wanting the Club World Cup scrapped. Flamengo, the reigning Libertadores champions, already have a guaranteed berth.

TalkSport reports that Aleksander Ceferin is to meet PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi on 12 August in Salzburg, Austria. The game that night pits PSG, the back-to-back Champions League winners, against Aston Villa, the Europa League champions, in the UEFA Super Cup.

Ceferin is seeking PSG’s support to end the competition. Al-Khelaifi also chairs the European Club Association, which groups more than 850 clubs, yet his backing may not be straightforward because he is a public political ally of FIFA president Gianni Infantino. FIFA wants the newly created event fixed on a four-year cycle, with Chelsea winning the first edition in 2025 and the next scheduled for 2029.

Al-Khelaifi played a key role in shaping last year’s Club World Cup economic model. However, many participants have yet to receive the promised solidarity payments for taking part, which could count against the tournament.

In late July, FIFA said it would sell stakes in its competitions to private investors. UEFA responded that its members would not enter, including the 2030 World Cup, while Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation also opposed the plan, and Infantino then backed down.

Source: Coluna Do Fla

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”