The Breakdown | Club World Cup ticks a lot of boxes but could also hurt the game and its players

The Breakdown | Club World Cup ticks a lot of boxes but could also hurt the game and its players

Money talks but warnings over added pressure on diaries, bodies and the climate should be heeded

It’s back. And this time it might actually happen. The idea of a formal World Club Championship has been kicking around for a couple of decades but, finally, it is almost cleared for take-off in 2028. Sixteen teams, four successive June weekends in the northern hemisphere, one winner. Please insert your own personal reaction emoji here.

As ever, that will probably depend on where you happen to be sitting. If you are a cash-strapped administrator struggling to keep the club game afloat, it will instinctively feel like a no-brainer. Enhanced global television and sponsor exposure, a clearly-defined slot in the calendar and the best in each hemisphere going hammer and tongs at each other in potentially half-decent weather. Tick, tick, tick.

This is an extract taken from our weekly rugby union email, the Breakdown. To sign up, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

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