President Gianni Infantino’s preview last December, ahead of the Qatar 2022 final, came true this Wednesday: FIFA Council approved the expansion of the Club World Cup to 32 teams and also announced How will the seats be divided? of the qualifiers in the six member confederations. Likewise, it has been made official that the 2023 edition – where the next champion of the Copa Libertadores will arrive – will be Saudi Arabiavery active in sports politics in recent years and which just took second place in this tournament three days ago, with Al Hilal led by the Argentine Ramón Díaz.
In an official press release, the Zurich institution indicated that the next edition of the top club tournament will also be played on Arab soil: it will be between 12 and 22 December 2023, for the last time with seven participants (the six continental champions and the champion of the organizing country).
Like Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, and the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading exporter of crude oil, has multiplied major sporting events in recent years to diversify its economy and improve its image, tarnished by accusations of repression in an ultra-conservative kingdom.
“The FIFA Council has unanimously designated the Football Federation of Saudi Arabia as host of the tournament from 12 to 22 December 2023”underlined the letter, which left the door open to a possible reappearance of Cristiano Ronaldoif they are champions of the Saudi Arabian League with Al-Nassr.
After a trial edition in 2000, the Club World Cup entered the calendar in 2005, replacing the Intercontinental Cup, which pitted the winner of the Copa Libertadores against the winner of the Champions League.
But this in 2023 will be the last with the current format, because will expand to 32 participating teams and organizing it every four years, in the image of the World Cup of Nations.
In this regard, the FIFA Council has defined the distribution of places by continent: 4 for Asia, 4 for Africa, 4 for Concacaf, 6 for Conmebol, 12 for Europe, one for Oceania and one for the host country. The Confederations will determine the methods of classification.
The dispute system would be similar to that of the World Cup, with a initial phase of eight groups of four teams and a knockout phase starting from the round of 16.
Source: Clarin
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