PL lodge complaint to FIFA after they weren't consulted over new Club World Cup

The Premier League have lodged a formal complaint to FIFA over their failure to consult with leagues and clubs over the expanded 32-team Club World Cup.

Mail Sport revealed the schedule for the new tournament on Saturday, which will see Manchester City and Chelsea play up to seven matches in four weeks in the summer of 2025, with the final taking place just three weeks before the start of the following domestic season.

The Premier League are understood to have signed a letter of complaint sent to FIFA by the World Leagues Forum, a lobby group which represents 44 of the top domestic leagues in the world including La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga.

The strongly-worded letter is believed to accuse FIFA of failing to exercise their responsibilities as the world's governing body and to claim that they prioritise their own interests instead by scheduling more matches to generate ever-greater revenue.

The commercial value of the expanded Club World Cup is unclear at present as broadcast rights and sponsorship deals have yet to sold, but with many of the world's top clubs including City, Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain and Bayern Munich already qualified it is sure to generate several billion pounds.

FIFA are working towards committing to a prize fund alone of £2billion, with all the clubs taking part to be paid £50m and the winners receiving over £100m.

In their letter the World League's Forum claim that FIFA are ignoring the best interests of the clubs by overloading the calendar and putting the players' health at risk.

PFA chief executive Maheta Molango made a similar point on Sunday by saying the players were being used as pawns and describing the Club World Cup as ridiculous.

'Players have become pawns in a battle for primacy