Dissecting FIFA's New Competition [UPDATED/Aprll Fools' Joke]

FIFA’s decision to establish a new global competition has become major news because it threatens to turn international team soccer on its head. This week’s announcement that FIFA has accepted a proposal worth billions of dollars from a wealthy United Arab Emirates (UAE) businessman to establish a competition between national league teams will surely fill-up FIFA’s purse but it also comes with serious challenges and possible consequences. First, lets describe what this new competition will be like before we delve into possible problems.

The Competition

The competition set to start in 2023 and run in 4-year cycles will have footballers, contracted to clubs in a national league, represent the country where the league plays. Thus, English Premier League players such as  Sadio Mane, Mohammed Salah, Paul Pogba, DeBruyne, and Sane will wear the colors of the English national team. France will have Neymar and Edison Cavani among its fold. Nigeria cannot suit up Alex Iwobi, Victor Moses, or Wilfred Ndidi since they do not play for league teams in Nigeria. Neither can Argentina use Lionel Messi or Uruguay use Luis Suarez. That is the new structure that we will see in 2023. Already, a top official representing the Egyptian FA has decried the move calling it "a neo-colonial project of the West." However, FIFA will certainly see an astronomical rise in its revenue. Television rights will be sold at a higher rate, a FIFA official confirmed Friday.

FIFA will soon call for hosting bids to be submitted this summer. UAE and Germany have indicated plans to host the inaugural tournament that will involve just 16 teams with Europe likely to send 50% of those teams. 

However, those who simply think that this is a plan for Europe to continue its domination of soccer may be mistaken. UAE and Qatar have, as far back as 2017, began to strategize to set up leagues that will compete favorably with Europe’s big five i.e. England, Spain, France, Germany, and Italy. Qatar may not challenge in 2023 but it plans to use the 2022 World Cup stadia as the launching pad venues for new clubs that will pay some of the highest wages than any place in the world.

The most likely countries that may be pushed further back are those of Africa. Africa produces some of the world’s most talented players but this new league will give Africa very little chance at success. Presently, African leagues pay the least amount in wages and its top footballers regularly migrate to places outside the continent. It will be a challenge for African teams to do well in this new competition. But there may be even bigger problems.

Concerns Linger

Friday, some analysts began to express concerns. Nicolas Maeterlinck, a Belgian top economic analyst, points out that support for national teams is based on nationalistic attachments which he says will be missing for teams in this tournament because the players represent multiple citizenships. He asked: “Who will a Brazilian support, Neymar playing for France or a Brazilian league XI who’s best player may be Paraguayan?” Without the nationalistic attachments, Maeterlinck believes that fans will be less interested. But Francis Mwanza, a Zambian journalist, disagrees: “Zambians support teams in the English Premier League and we may see their support transferred to the English League XI. It will not have anything to do with nationalism. The problem is that Zambians will not support Zambia’s League XI because they are not familiar with players in the local league.”

Then there is an issue that this competition may threaten the place of the World Cup in the minds of football fans. However, FIFA makes it clear that they do not think that it will. In its recent announcement, FIFA points out that the World Cup has a brand that has worked and that will continue to do so for at least the next half century.

Remember this is April