Simon Jordan takes bold stance on Chelsea and Club World Cup row

Simon Jordan has defended FIFA for ordering Manchester City and Chelsea to play their top players during next year's Club World Cup - despite the backlash surrounding the amount of fixtures.

FIFA's new prime club competition - the Club World Cup - will grace the global stage in June and July 2025, when 32 of the leading teams on the planet compete in the USA for the inaugural edition. The tournament - like every other year - will bring together the best teams from the six international confederations.

Each team has to play three group matches, with the top two from each group going into the last 16. A direct single match knockout will then determine every game from there to the final, like the traditional World Cup and European Championship format, though there is no third-place play-off scheduled.

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There has been some concern raised over whether this competition should go ahead due to the amount of matches, especially for the 12 European teams competing. Despite this, City, Chelsea and the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Benfica and Borussia Dortmund have agreed to take part.

And ex-Crystal Palace owner Jordan has stuck up for FIFA and claimed that teams involved - including City and Chelsea - shouldn't just be able to get their own way every time.

"I suspect they're saying we wanna see the first-team players available befitting of a tournament that is going to pay you £60m," Jordan told talkSPORT. "You're get what you get in the Champions League from half the amount of games. If you win the Champions League you get