A "controversial plan" for a new global club competition backed by Saudi money is "set to be revived" by FIFA this week, according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. Proposals for a new 24-team Club World Cup will be discussed at FIFA's council meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday and Friday. The meeting will also "focus attention on the close links that have developed" between FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Saudi Arabia. FIFA had "shelved talks" on the proposal earlier this year but it is now back on the agenda for this week's meeting, as well as a proposed new global Nations League, "run along similar lines" as UEFA's new competition which started this season. A consortium led by Japan's SoftBank and backed financially by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, which has invested $45B in SoftBank, and the UAE had originally pledged $25B for a 12-year deal for the two competitions. Infantino is "likely to face questions" about his close association with Saudi Arabia after the regime's admissions that the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in its consulate in Turkey. Earlier this month, Saudi Sports Minister Turki Al Sheikh, the head of the 22-nation Arab Football Federation, pledged his backing to Infantino in the FIFA presidential election next year -- "so far no challenger has appeared." Saudi Arabia is "making a big push to expand its influence in sport generally and especially in football" (LONDON TIMES, 10/22).
