Club World Cup fears spark FIFA emergency meeting with Man City and Real Madrid involved

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has reportedly called an emergency meeting amid concern over a lack of interest in their new Club World Cup expansion.

Football's world governing body officials were said to have been summoned for discussions with TV executives to drum up interest in the revamped tournament ahead of its launch next year, according to The Athletic. The new competition in 2025 will see 32 teams from around the globe play matches across the space of a month in the US - the same place where the next World Cup in 2026 will be held.

Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are among the 12 European teams set to be included, while six South American teams, four from Asia, Africa and north and central America and one from Oceania also make the cut. However, there are few other details available on which exact locations games will be staged and FIFA are now said to be ramping up talks to secure sponsorships and decide on key details for the tournament - after a deal with tech giant Apple reportedly collapsed.

The report states that FIFA is yet to secure broadcasters, decide which venues will be used or which training bases will be given to teams.

FIFA have also not informed clubs how much they can expect for taking part - after a £38m windfall for teams was initially mooted.

There's been significant backlash against the contentious tournament due to concerns over player exhaustion, highlighted by Manchester City's Rodri who recently suggested that players might strike if pushed too hard.

Nevertheless, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has come out in defence of the competition, batting away criticism. This summer he argued: "FIFA is organising around one percent of the games of the top clubs in the