G14 boycott FIFA World Club C'ship

Europe’s elite clubs, including Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, today vowed to boycott the World Club Championship next year despite an effort by FIFA to slim down the competition.

The decision was taken by G14, the group of Europe’s 18 leading clubs, at a meeting of senior officials in Valencia, Spain.

Manchester United’s chief executive David Gill said: “It was decided that G14 clubs would not take part in the World Club Championship.

“We were following on from the views expressed at the recent European Club Forum in Barcelona and this was a ratification of that decision.”

G14 will also press ahead with efforts to win compensation for the wages of players when they are on international duty at major FIFA and UEFA tournaments.

Their next step is to see whether there are grounds for legal action under European fair trade laws.

FIFA announced a slimmed-down format for the World Club Championships earlier this month where the European and South American champions would only have to play two matches, and that it would be likely to replace the existing Toyota Cup match that currently decides the world’s leading club.

Bayern Munich’s president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge insisted the fixture calendar was already crowded.

Rummenigge said: “We’re satisfied with the current competitions and have no wish to fill the schedules even more.

“No club from the G-14 will participate in this FIFA competition. We refuse to play the World Championship and our decision is final.”

United played in the first – and so far only – World Club Championship in 2000 in Brazil.

The second tournament due to be held in Spain in 2001 was cancelled following the collapse of FIFA’s marketing partner ISL.

FIFA, who do not recognise G14 as an official body, remain confident the 2005 European champions will join the champions from the other continents for the tournament in November next year.

FIFA communications director Markus Siegler told the Press Association: “This tournament has been voted for by the FIFA Congress, by all the national associations, and it is they who may compel a club to take part.

“We believe this competition is for the good of football and if you ask any player they would want to become club world champions.

“We are confident that the clubs will participate.”

FIFA announced two weeks ago that the new-look World Club Championship would be a six-team competition.

The champions of Africa, Asia, CONCACAF and Oceania would play in a first-round knockout, with the two winners then meeting the European and South American club champions in the semi-finals.