FC Barcelona can take bitter rivals Real Madrid’s place at the 2025 Club World Cup (CWC) and put itself in line for a potential $161 million (€150 million) payday as pointed out by pointed out by AS.

Barca lost out on a spot at the tournament by not progressing further than Atletico Madrid in the most recent edition of the Champions League.

Atletico therefore took the last remaining Spanish vacancy alongside crosstown rivals Real Madrid, which already had tickets booked to the United States next summer for winning the 2022 UCL final without even having to beat Dortmund at Wembley, which it did 2-0, in the 2024 decider.

Last week, however, Relevo reported that Madrid opposes the new revamped format of the CWC.

Rather than being a simple, two-game December affair for the Champions League winner, which usually plays just the semi-finals and final, the CWC will now boast 32 teams and be almost a month long in summer across the Atlantic in the US.

In an interview with Il Giornale published on Monday, Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti pretty much confirmed that Madrid will refuse to go to the CWC in 2025.

“FIFA can forget about that,” Ancelotti boldly stated. “Players and clubs will not participate in that tournament.

“A single Madrid game is worth €20 million ($21.5 million) and FIFA wants to give us that figure for the entire tournament. Like us, several clubs will decline the invitation,” Ancelotti predicted.

Outlets such as SPORT insist that Ancelotti has his figures wrong. Official ones haven’t been made available yet, but the Catalan newspaper, and others, report that participation in the CWC will be worth $53.8 million (€50 million) alone while the winner receives double that amount.

Meanwhile in the Spanish capital, AS writes that Madrid’s loss can be eternal enemy FC Barcelona’s gain.

“Of course, the possible resignation of Madrid would make the Catalans the beneficiaries and obtain the place as the second-best Spanish team in the rankings,” it says, in a development that would be a considerable boost for an outfit that has been struggling economically since the turn of the decade.

While the participation fee alone would be much welcomed by the Blaugrana, going all the way in the United States could help turn its fortunes around and see it receive up to a $161 million (€150 million) payday.

Now it remains to be seen if Real Madrid really does pull out of the CWC, or is merely goading FIFA.

Curled From Forbes