On paper, bringing together the winners of the top continental club competitions in a tournament to find an overall winner sounds like an interesting proposition. But the Club World Cup, or as it is officially known the FIFA Club World Cup presented by Toyota, currently being held in Japan is arguably the epitome of everything negative about football.
Immediately something does not look right about the tournament. There are seven teams; the odd number coming about because a place has to be given to the domestic league winner of the host country. Already the idea of the continental champions fighting it out is diluted.
This is an attempt to increase exposure for seemingly smaller leagues like the J-League, but also a way of drawing in the numbers and sustain audience interest by having a Japanese team play in this competition.
The tournament fits into FIFA’s message of spreading the game around the world, but for this “spread” read “globalisation”. Spreading the game is FIFA’s version of globalisation; they are putting their product out to an even wider audience.
Their product does not just include football. The official title of the tournament gives a clear indication of what else they are spreading. Sponsorship, such as the naming rights obtained by Toyota, is an important part of this sort of tournament.
Getting the message of the brands out there opens up new fields for these companies to exploit. Their reach extends and they have the tournament organisers to thank, who in turn generate more revenue for the next tournament. It plays a big part in where it is hosted, with the Asian and Middle-Eastern markets being the target.
It does not seem to matter that the Chelsea semi-final had a noticeably small attendance. Chelsea have had to postpone a League Cup quarter-final and Premier League game to take part in the competition.
They can at least be thankful they do not have to take part in the same format as Manchester United in 2000, who famously forfeited their place in that season’s FA Cup.
Their current situation has seen the mainstream media debate whether this tournament is a good or bad thing for the team and manager. The underlying issue of their inclusion though is the amount of money they can generate for themselves in terms of exposure, but more importantly for FIFA as the winners of the most competitive club cup competition in the world.
So the fanfare rolls on looking to attract as much as possible, and overall it is the game that suffers. Clubs taking part will of course look to encourage it, but their on-pitch focus is directed much more firmly towards home and makes the tournament a pointless exercise in front of sparse, disinterested crowds. But nothing stops the globalisation machine.
Daniel Smith – @dmsmith1987
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