FIFA: "The World Cup must never be treated as a mere financial asset" (Real Madrid)

"Clubs form the foundation upon which international football and the World Cup are built. It is the clubs that discover, train, develop and make available to national teams the players who make these major competitions possible. International football and the World Cup are, above all, events of public interest, and they form a heritage that belongs to nations, to fans and to society as a whole. We therefore believe that they must never be treated as mere financial assets to be commercialised for the benefit of a select few," Real Madrid CF (LALIGA EA Sports) said on 2 August 2026.

The Spanish club "warmly welcomes FIFA’s decision to abandon the proposal for the partial sale of the commercial rights to its competitions." On 1 August, FIFA announced that it was withdrawing its proposal to…