Magath on the Club World Cup: money-making and "catastrophe"

Felix Magath is no fan of the Club World Cup. For him, the FIFA President's prestige event is all about one thing: money. From a sporting perspective, it's not very ambitious.

Felix Magath sees no sporting value in the Club World Cup in the USA, but rather merely a "money-grabbing scheme." He doesn't know what the FIFA XXL tournament is supposed to be about as a world championship. "Only that clubs from different continents are playing against each other. But the differences in performance are simply too great for someone like me, who has been involved in football his entire life, to enjoy watching it," Magath (71) told Sky.

His view as a coach of the event with 32 teams, which runs until July 13, is even more critical. "Now I see a catastrophe looming for some teams. FC Bayern can be happy that the competition in the league isn't so fierce at the moment; otherwise, I would be pessimistic about a German championship next season," explained the former national player and longtime Bundesliga coach.

After the long season, teams like the German champions from Munich and Borussia Dortmund still have to compete in a week-long tournament in America. "When are the players supposed to recover?" Magath said. There's no preparation time left. "I think the players will have difficulty achieving the necessary fitness next season," Magath said.

Bayern will face Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in the quarterfinals on Saturday (6:00 p.m. CEST/Sat.1 and DAZN). Dortmund will then face Real Madrid for a place in the semifinals (10:00 p.m. CEST/Sat.1 and DAZN).

At least financially, the tournament is worthwhile for the Bundesliga clubs, each of which has already generated revenues of more than 50 million euros. In total, FIFA will distribute around one billion US dollars (926 million euros) to the 32 participating clubs in the reformed Club World Cup. In the best-case scenario, the tournament winner could receive up to 113 million euros.