Jurgen Klopp has launched a scathing attack on FIFA's expanded 32-team Club World Cup, branding it "the worst idea ever implemented in football".
The former Liverpool manager, now serving as Red Bull's global chief of football, delivered his damning verdict on the tournament currently underway in the United States.
Speaking to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Klopp said: "The Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football.
"People who have never had anything to do with day-to-day business are coming up with ideas."
Jurgen Klopp has blasted the Club World Cup
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The 58-year-old German joins a growing chorus of criticism against the newly-expanded format.
Klopp warned that the tournament's scheduling could lead to an unprecedented injury crisis among top players.
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"I fear that next season players will suffer injuries they've never had before. If not, then it'll happen at the World Cup or afterwards," he told Welt am Sonntag.
The competition has forced Europe's elite clubs, including PSG, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Chelsea, to drastically reduce their off-season preparations.
These teams face shortened pre-season periods due to their mandatory participation in the tournament, which has drawn widespread criticism for contributing to an already congested football calendar.
Klopp's stance reflects his long-standing advocacy for player welfare, a cause he championed throughout his Liverpool tenure.
In August 2022, he drew parallels between fixture congestion and climate change ahead of Qatar's mid-season World Cup.
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Man City are one of two sides representing the Premier League at the Club World Cup alongside Chelsea
REUTERS"It is like with the climate. We all know it has to change but nobody is saying what we have to do," he said at the time.
He expressed frustration that "as much as everybody knows it's not right, nobody talks often enough about it that it will be changed. Something has to change."
Klopp concluded that the 2022 World Cup was happening "at the wrong moment for the wrong reasons".
Klopp also revealed why he declined the opportunity to manage the German national team at the end of the 2022/23 season, despite having the chance whilst still at Liverpool.
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GETTY"I couldn't leave Liverpool like that. There was a team there, there were people I had a relationship with," he explained to Welt am Sonntag.
The German admitted he "could have said yes" and that "it might have been better to do something else" following Liverpool's disappointing fifth-place finish in 2022/23.
However, he felt compelled to remain at Anfield, stating: "I wanted to put things right again with [players new to the squad] and the core team. That was important to me."
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