After the withdrawal of Japan to host the FIFA Club World Cup in December due to COVID-19, South Africa have shown their interest to hold the tournament. The President of the South African Football Association (SAFA) Danny Jordaan is said to be likely to meet with the FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura in Lagos, Nigeria later this week to get an insight on what kind of a bid the African nation should present to the footballing body to host the seven-team tournament. The Club World Cup is set to feature the European Champions Chelsea along with five continental club-level tournament winners and the final spot for a league champion from the yet to be finalised, host country.
Last week, Japan withdrew due to the fears that the tournament could cause a rise in the spread of the infection in the country after having just staged the Sumer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo earlier this year. FIFA are yet to decide on an alternative host as Saudi Arabia has shown their interest as well.
FIFA was set to debut a larger number of team participation in the Club World Cup with 24 compared to the usual 7 that qualify. It was scheduled to be held in China but was shelved due to the current pandemic situation that rescheduled the national team competitions while FIFA was able to raise the required funding for the event.
The SAFA have to get the government’s approval in order to hold the tournament, a meeting with the sports minister is scheduled to take place soon as stated by Jordaan “We’ll know our position by the end of the week,” he assured.
