Covid-19 sees China’s Fifa Club World Cup delayed, Japan to host 2021 instead
- Postponed 2020 edition will take place in February in Qatar with 2021 tournament to follow next December
- Gianni Infantino says new-look 24-team format ‘will be the best club competition in the world’ but it may not take place before 2025
Instead, the tournament will be played in its current seven-team format and be held in Japan, Fifa announced after a meeting of its council on Friday.
“Due to the Covid-19 situation … we‘ve decided to organise a Club World Cup in the current format again in 2021 in December and we awarded the hosting rights to Japan,” Fifa president Gianni Infantino said after the meeting.
Next year will now see two Club World Cups on the calendar as football reacts to the coronavirus pandemic.
The first – the 2020 edition – will be held in Qatar in February before the 2021 tournament is played in December.
Fifa’s 2021 calendar already has to make room for the Uefa European Championships and the Copa America that were delayed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fifa cosies up to China with Club World Cup: will World Cup be next?
The impending format change was to see a 24-team Club World Cup, with eight teams from Europe and greater Asian representation.
The China tournament – which was announced at a Fifa congress in Shanghai in October, 2019 – was postponed at a meeting in March before yesterday’s decision pushed it back indefinitely.
Fifa have not confirmed when the new-look Club World Cup will begin although Infantino did say it is still on the agenda during Friday’s virtual news conference.
Fifa’s US$25 billion Club World Cup revamp irks Uefa
Infantino reassured the Chinese hosts: “It will be held in China,” he said. “We haven’t set the dates yet, but it will be the best club competition in the world.”
The dates may not fall before 2025. The next Fifa World Cup will take place in 2022 in Qatar before China hosts the AFC Asian Cup the following year, while 2024 will see another edition of both the Uefa European Championships and Copa America.
