The MLS CEO comprehends the decision to postpone the upcoming Club World Cup

FIFA’s expanded 32-team Club World Cup, which will be held in the US next year, has raised concerns, according to Major League Soccer president Don Garber. La Liga chief Javier Tebas has urged for the competition to be canceled.

Twelve European clubs will compete in the new competition from the world governing body of soccer. It will follow a season in which the UEFA Champions League was expanded, and it will precede the 2026 World Cup, which will feature 48 teams and be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Prominent athletes have voiced their disapproval of the ever expanding calendar of games, with some even suggesting strike action. This Thursday, LaLiga, the European Leagues, and the players’ organization FIFPRO Europe unanimously complained to EU antitrust authorities about FIFA’s international fixture schedule.

This week in Brussels, Tebas called for the cancellation of FIFA’s proposed Club World Cup, which still lacks sponsorship and broadcast agreements.

“We all need to be mindful of the calendar, and I understand Javier’s views,” Garber said to reporters during Leaders Week London’s The Summit.

“I believe that we must all try to determine whether we can participate more actively in the decision-making process, and I would incorporate it into the Club World Cup. Like everyone else, we as a league are concerned about the toll that all of the competitions our players must participate in has on them.

The 2025 Club World Cup is scheduled to take place on the Western Coast of the United States and Canada between June 15 and July 13, coinciding with CONCACAF’s Gold Cup. After that, European leagues and the MLS season are scheduled to restart.

Garber cautioned that there might be a risk of soccer becoming oversaturated, but that the recent European case might pave the way for a more agreeable international schedule and increased cooperation between leagues and governing bodies.

“I read about the lawsuits just the other day, but sometimes it takes a little disruption to get everybody to sit at the same table and make the right decisions,” the elderly man added.

“I would hope that you make those right decisions, because you’re basing those decisions on data, fact and research and strategy, but if not, sometimes you have to be forced to make those decisions.”