The framework of the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship was laid years in advance.[53] According to Sepp Blatter, the idea of the tournament was presented to the executive committee in December 1993 in Las Vegas, United States by Silvio Berlusconi, AC Milan's president.[54] Since every confederation had, by then, a stable, continental championship, FIFA felt it was prudent and relevant to have a Club World Championship tournament. Initially, there were nine candidates to host the competition: China, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Tahiti, Turkey, the United States and Uruguay; of the nine, only Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Brazil and Uruguay confirmed their interest to FIFA. On 7 June 1999, FIFA selected Brazil to host the competition,[55] which was initially scheduled to take place in 1999.[56] Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton, a pillar of England's victorious campaign in the 1966 FIFA World Cup, stated that the Club World Championship provided "a fantastic chance of becoming the first genuine world champions."[57] The competition gave away US$28 million in prize money and its TV rights, worth US$40 million, were sold to 15 broadcasters across five continents.[58] The final draw of the first Club World Championship was done on 14 October 1999 at the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro.[59]
The inaugural competition was planned to be contested in 1999 by the continental club winners of 1998, the Intercontinental Cup winners and the host nation's national club champions, but it was postponed by one year. When it was rescheduled, the competition had eight new participants from the continental champions of 1999: Brazilian clubs Corinthians and Vasco da Gama, English side Manchester United, Mexican club Necaxa, Moroccan club Raja CA, Spanish side Real Madrid, Saudi club Al-Nassr, and Australian club South Melbourne.[61] The first goal of the competition was scored by Real Madrid's Nicolas Anelka against Al-Nassr; Real Madrid went on to win the match 3–1.[62] The final was an all-Brazilian affair, as well as the only one which saw one side have home advantage.[63] Vasco da Gama could not take advantage of its local support, being beaten by Corinthians 4–3 on penalties after a 0–0 draw in 90 minutes and extra time.[64][65]
The second edition of the competition was planned for Spain in 2001, and would have featured 12 clubs.[66] The draw was performed at A Coruña on 6 March 2001.[67] However, it was cancelled on 18 May, due to a combination of factors, most importantly the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner International Sport and Leisure.[68] The participants of the cancelled edition received US$750,000 each in compensation; the Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF) also received US$1 million from FIFA.[69] Another attempt to stage the competition in 2003, in which 17 countries were looking to be the host nation, also failed to happen.[70][71] FIFA agreed with UEFA, CONMEBOL and Toyota to merge the Intercontinental Cup and Club World Championship into one event.[72] The final Intercontinental Cup, played by representatives clubs of most developed continents in the football world, was in 2004, with a relaunched Club World Championship held in Japan in December 2005.[73] All the winning teams of the Intercontinental Cup were regarded by worldwide mass media and football's community as de facto "world champions"[74][75][76] until 2017 when FIFA officially (de jure) recognised all of them as official club world champions in equal status to the FIFA Club World Cup winners.[77][78][79]
0 Comments