Controversy has surrounded the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 from the start, with many criticizing its timing at the end of an already packed season. Just hours before the final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, FIFPRO President Sergio Marchi delivered a scathing statement aimed at both the tournament and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, titled “The man who thinks he is God.”
In recent years, top players and coaches have voiced increasing concerns over the lack of rest due to expanded competition schedules. With the newly revamped Club World Cup taking place after a grueling 2024–25 campaign—and in sweltering conditions—those complaints have only intensified.
While FIFA and player unions recently agreed to implement a 72-hour minimum rest window between matches and a three-week offseason, ESPN reported that FIFPRO was excluded from those talks in New York. In response, Marchi issued a strongly worded statement criticizing both Infantino and the Club World Cup’s organization.
Marchi’s strong message to Infantino
Player working conditions have long been a point of contention between FIFA and FIFPRO. Now, with global attention on the final in New York, Marchi reignited that debate with a direct and blistering statement.
“While the recent Club World Cup generated excitement among many fans and brought together some of the world’s top football stars in one tournament, FIFPRO must clearly state that this competition reveals a dangerous disconnect from the real conditions faced by the majority of footballers around the world,” Marchi began.
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“What was presented as a global football celebration was nothing more than a staged fiction by FIFA, driven by its president—without dialogue, without empathy, and without respect for those who sustain the game through their daily efforts. It was a grandiose performance that inevitably brings to mind Nero’s Rome and its “bread and circuses”—entertainment for the masses while behind the curtain, inequality, precariousness, and the neglect of the true protagonists deepen.”
Marchi also condemned the extreme weather conditions players endured throughout the tournament. “The tournament was also held under unacceptable conditions, with matches scheduled during extreme heat that put players’ physical integrity at serious risk. This situation must not only be condemned but firmly addressed. What happened cannot be allowed to happen again under any circumstances at next year’s FIFA World Cup,” part of the statement read.
