United Arab Emirates – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

AS A Chelsea fan, I am pleased the club has won the FIFA Club World Cup, but I cannot help feeling the competition is an unnecessary interlude that we could do without. It’s hard to get too excited about a seven team tournament with five makeweights and a decent team from South America.

It has all the attraction of a pre-season competition that could easily be diluted to an annual play-off between the winners of the Copa Libertadores and the UEFA Champions League, but even then, is that worth it? We all know that the top European clubs are too strong for the best that South America can offer.

This isn’t trying to dismiss the top teams from Argentina and Brazil, because there’s nothing more romantic than the idea of Chelsea versus Boca Juniors, Manchester City versus River Plate and Liverpool against Flamengo. But this kind of imaginative thinking belonged to an age where unknown, mysterious teams used to play Europe’s top club in the old Club World Championship, a two-legged tie which was often brutal, dramatic and bordering on feral.

There’s nothing better in sport than claiming your team is the best in the world, but the FIFA Club World Cup is not the competition that truly determines that lofty title. It’s six teams who won their regional champions league along with a host nation side. It’s a little like putting the Premier League champions in a competition with the winners of the Championship, League One, League Two and National League and expecting a meaningful and satisfying tournament.

It’s no wonder it is hard work trying to get Europeans to take it seriously, they’ve been brought up on bloated competitions like the UEFA Champions League, the European Championship, the World Cup and Europa League. They have to work hard for their trophies, but the FIFA Club World Cup looks like a mid-season break, a few days in the sun to play a semi-final and final. Great for the fans who make the trip to places like the Middle East, Japan or Morocco, but there needs to be more substance.

If FIFA wants people to take it more seriously, then the competition has to be moved to centre stage. In other words, host it in a major football nation rather than the equivalent of football’s emerging markets. The cynics among us see this is as a way of raising money from highly-enthused associations who want credibility and to be part of the game’s mainstream and are willing to pay for it. A perfectly respectable ambition, but sometimes it appears FIFA are overdoing it. Want the FIFA Club World Cup to capture the imagination of a global audience? Move it to Madrid, Berlin, Paris or Buenos Aires. Better still, if they don’t fancy giving the 2030 World Cup to Uruguay, why not get them to stage the first expanded World Club Cup? Let the rising nations host it by all means, but if you want to build some positive momentum, get the mature markets behind it.

As it stands, the current format needs scrapping, for a minimalist format simply has too many weak teams. Put it another way, if the regular World Cup was a seven-team competition, how would Brazil, England, Mexico, Tahiti, UAE, Saudi and Egypt look? If, however, it was a 16-team programme, there would be enough strong sides to make for a more balanced schedule.

The South Americans see the competition as being prestigious and the idea of a World Cup for clubs, in theory, should be just that. They want to pit their skills against European clubs who have more money, dominate the football media and make the most noise. Since it became what it is today, Europe’s teams have been far too strong and the last winner from CONMEBOL was Corinthians in 2012, who beat Chelsea 1-0.

In theory, given the financial resources and depth of their squad, Chelsea should win the FIFA Club World Cup. According to Transfermarkt, Chelsea’s squad is valued at £ 795 million, while Palmeiras’s is worth around £ 162 million. So, if nothing else, there is more at stake in not winning than actually winning as far as the club’s reputation is concerned.

That’s not a reason to run such a lop-sided and shallow competition. FIFA wanted to expand to a 24-team format, but the pandemic got in the way. They should experiment with 16 and see how it is received, not just by the fans, but also the participants. There’s already a crowded fixture calendar, so they have to find a way to make any new concept workable.

Otherwise, bad organisation, domestic disruption and a tepid reaction from those clubs involved would make the exercise a failure. Meanwhile, Chelsea will enjoy another trophy and the supporters will relish singing “Champions of the World”, but the real pleasure is from denying someone else the honour. And that was probably the motivation all along. “We know it isn’t really a big deal, but we are not allowing another team the opportunity to say they are the best in the world.”

WITH the forthcoming Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League final between Jeonbok Hyundai Motors and Al-Ain on the horizon, football in the world’s most densely populated continent comes under the microscope.

Since 2008, the global economy has been buoyed by the upward trajectory of Asia, with China and India both growing at a rapid rate. Recent concerns have focused on the sustainability of economies that may be entering bubble territory, with manic real estate construction being one of the areas of anxiety. Indeed, the volatility in the global economy over the past year or so has been partly driven by fears that China, for example, will slow so much that it will derail the financial markets. “An accident waiting to happen,” is how more than one economist has described the situation in China, which is now so interconnected that any mis-hap in Beijing will affect all major economies and markets.

From a footballing perspective, China – at the heart of the Asian game – could be creating a bubble of a different sort as vast sums of money are spent on foreign clubs and in the transfer market.

Football Benchmark, in its latest paper, AFC Leagues, where are the new tigers?, describes Asia as the sport’s rising superpower.

Until now, however, Asian nations have underperformed on the global stage. In the past, tepid displays against more developed countries was attributed to physiology, diet and a lack of natural technique. Moreover, in emerging markets, the money was not there to develop footballing talent. Many of these hurdles are being removed and Asia has become an intense region that has embraced football with great gusto.

China, of course, is leading the way in terms of investment. Football Benchmark says that interest in overseas football by Chinese investors has also been the catalyst for renewed stakeholder confidence in local competition. This has led to a RMB 8bn TV deal for Chinese Super League coverage and an average crowd of 24,000 in 2016.

While China’s rise has made the headlines, Japan – traditionally the region’s top nation – is being overshadowed by its noisy neighbour. That said, Japan still remains an example to the rest of Asia, adding a third tier to its professional structure and building strong community links. But attendances in Japan have stagnated, suggesting that it may have reached saturation level. On an international level, its teams have not made an impact in the AFC Champions League for some seasons – the last Japanese team to reach the final was Gamba Osaka in 2008. Historically, Japan has fared well in the Champions League, winning the title five times.

Japan is also under threat from South Korea, whose Jeonbok Hyundai Motors will contest the 2016 AFC Champions League final, against Al-Ain from the United Arab Emirates. This will be their third final – they won the Champions League in 2006 and were runners-up in 2011.

South Korea is the only Asian country to reach the World Cup semi-final – admittedly in 2002 when it joint-hosted the competition with Japan. Conversely, its domestic league has struggled to generate significant interest among broadcasters and fans. South Korea is the best performing country in the AFC Champions League, with 10 winners and six beaten finalists.

Jeonbok Hyundai Motors’ opponents, Al-Ain are from a league that has enjoyed good progress in recent years, but the relatively small population of the UAE 9.2 million, presents a problem for sustained growth. Al-Ain are the UAE’s most successful club, having won 12 Arabian Gulf League titles, including three in the last five years. They are the only UAE team to have won the Champions League, which they achieved in 2003.

Football Benchmark notes that the central and western Asian region does not generally draw big crowds, but there are examples where local fervour brings in huge attendances. In Saudi Arabia, clashes between Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad are played in front of 60,000 and the Tehran derby between Persepolis and Esteghlal can attract 100,000.

Teams from this segment of Asia fare well in the AFC Champions League and since 2002, when the current format was introduced, the UAE has provided four finalists, Saudi Arabia five, Iran two and Syria one.

AFC Champions League- since 2003

	AFC CL winners	Runners-up
UAE	2003	2005, 2015
Thailand		2003
Saudi Arabia	2004, 2005	2009, 2012, 2014
South Korea	2006, 2009, 2010, 2012	2004, 2011, 2013
Syria		2006
Japan	2007, 2008
Iran		2007, 2010
Australia	2014	2008
Qatar	2011
China	2013, 2015

The big noise in Asia recently, however, concerns India and its Indian Super League (ISL). Attendances reached 26,000 per game in 2015 and although gates appear to have fallen in 2016, the country is eager to win global recognition for its growing league. FIFA have yet to recognise the ISL, but there are steps being taken to merge India’s two premier football competitions – the other league being the less heralded I-League, which was founded in 2007.

With favourable demographics, characterised by growing middle classes, the signs appear to be promising for Asia. However, as Football Benchmark outlines, developing economies often have to endure economic volatility and Asian football will always be up against more mature European football markets as well as competition from sports such as cricket. The paper concludes: “The Asian continent has demonstrated its hunger for top quality football, the question is now when and which of its leagues will be able to compete and eventually challenge the game’s traditional superpowers in the long term.”

To see Football Benchmark’s full report, click here

AFC Champions League Final: November 19 and 26 How they got to the final:

Jeonbok Hyundai Motors		Al-Ain
FC Seoul (South Korea) 5-3 on agg.	Semi-Final	El-Jaish (Qatar) 5-3 on agg.
Shaunghai SIPG (China) 5-0 on agg.	Quarter-Final	Lokomotiv Tashkent (Uzbek.) 1-0 on agg.
Melbourne Victory (Aus.) 3-2 on agg.	Round of 16	Zob Ahan (Iran) 3-1 on agg.
FC Tokyo (Japan) 2-1, 3-0; Jiangsu Suning (China) 2-2, 2-3; Becamex (Vietnam) 2-0, 2-3.	Group stage	El-Jaish (Qatar) 1-2, 1-2; Al-Ahli (Saudi) 1-0, 2-1; Nasaf Qarshi (Uzbek.) 2-0, 1-1.