The topic is the Club World Cup and the question is: will it be played or not?

The tournament is scheduled from 15 June to 13 July 2025 in the US, but there are still too many questions.

The question is simple, but the answer is more complex. 

The topic is the Club World Cup and the question is: will it be played or not? Everything is hanging on to Saudi Arabia, as Repubblica points out. 

"The tournament is scheduled from 15 June to 13 July 2025 in the US and promises to distribute record prizes to its participants: the non-negotiable amount to be distributed among the teams is 800 million euros (£668.8 million). 

The new World Cup will cost £2 billion. But the collection is missing. And at FIFA no one pretends that the problem does not exist. Indeed. Only on Friday the body that controls world football met with sixty European broadcasters. But it’s not easy, because selling the copiright of a tournament that lasts for one month is difficult enough. 

Let alone if you have to make like a billion dollars from the sale" reads the newspaper.
"The FIFA had tried to discuss with Apple just for that figure, but in July the discussion got stuck. 

After months, and after a not easy summer, it is clear.
Reaching that figure from the commercialization of television rights will be a virtually impossible undertaking. 

Some clubs are already thinking to not attend the World Cup if FIFA is not able to guarantee the promised 800 million: for now, only a threat. But enough to convince FIFA to look for a different partner. 

It was almost obvious to open a table with Saudi Arabia. But it is a race against time, since in December, less than one hundred days, the new World Cup is scheduled to be drawn".

"One thing is certain: nobody wants the new tournament to be skipped. 

But neither do they want to make discounts on the price of participation. 

From Riyadh to today deny involvement in the Club World Cup:
«We have not spoken to FIFA at the moment», says a qualified source. But that expression, «at the moment», is a very open window. Because with the friends of Riad is at stake an even more important game: the World Championship in 2034. 

For the Saudis, it is a good opportunity to take a permanent place of prestige at the global football table".