Women’s Club World Cup could be ‘catastrophic’ for WSL

The scheduling of the proposed Fifa Women’s Club World Cup has been called potentially “catastrophic” by the Women’s Super League (WSL).

World governing body Fifa has announced the inaugural global competition, designed to echo the revamped men’s Club World Cup, will take place from 5 to 30 January 2028.

That would be in the middle of the 2027-28 WSL season, with other European domestic leagues sharing their concerns.

The competition would feature 16 teams from around the world, including up to six European clubs. From England, this would include current Champions League holders Arsenal, and potentially Chelsea based on current co-efficients.

“This is a scheduling issue rather than a strategic one. The timing is what causes us real concerns,” a WSL spokesperson said.

“We are not saying we do not want Fifa to bring in new competitions. We are fully on board with a strategy to help the women’s game grow globally.

It is the second new mid-season women’s competition to be introduced by Fifa in recent years.

The inaugural Champions Cup – featuring continental champions from around the world, including Arsenal – will take place next week in London, between 28 January and 1 February.

WSL officials say the planned Club World Cup would result in up to five WSL match weeks being rescheduled, leading to a potential fixture backlog and an impact on player fitness.

They say they have written to Fifa with their concerns and will meet with global officials in London during the Champions Cup to discuss the issue.

BBC Sport has been told the WSL would rather the tournament is played in the summer during a fallow year with no other major global competitions, rather than disrupting the domestic schedule.

The BBC also understands the planned schedule was presented at a WSL meeting with club captains on Monday, with players “shocked” by how busy the calendar could get.

The fact that the Club World Cup is scheduled for between the 2027 Women’s World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics is also a concern.

“There are no gaps,” a WSL spokesperson said. “If the tournament is in a different time zone, with the rest and recovery needed, it could lead to rearrangement of a lot of fixtures.

“We know Arsenal will participate and Chelsea are likely to participate as well. It would be great for our clubs but their fixtures would probably have to move to midweek slots which are less attractive to fans. It is delicate timing.”

The WSL is now considering its options, although asking English teams to boycott the competition is not currently on the table.

Fifa chief football officer and former United States women’s national team coach Jill Ellis says that the fixture congestion caused by the Club World Cup being played in January 2028 will prove to be an outlier.

The competition was due to take place in 2026, but was delayed by two years.

Ellis, who coached the USA to Women’s World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, told the BBC: “These consultations have happened since 2022, and this window [January] was one of the windows agreed upon.

“It’s hard to find the perfect spot, so it was important to involve a lot of people in these conversations.

“The Club World Cup was due to take place in 2026, stakeholders said that was too soon. The decision was taken on these recommendations to delay it until 2028.”

On whether there is an appetite for the Club World Cup, Ellis said: “I think there is. I ran a club in San Diego for three years and players are competitive, there is banter about who is the best club in the world, the best league in the world.

“I recognise we have to grow it and educate people about it. This came to the calendar fairly late, but I think this will showcase these players around the world.

“And the coach in me thinks, a lot of players don’t get a chance to play international football so there is that as well.”

While there is a concern about fixture pile-up, players’ union Fifpro has said some players are in need of more matches and that underloaded footballers are at a greater injury risk.