With the participation of Corinthians, the next few days will define the women’s team that for the first time, with the approval of FIFA, will win a trophy on a global scale.
Football’s highest governing body will hold the decisive phase of its first women’s club Champions Cup in England from Wednesday (28). In addition to Brabas (the Corinthians’ nickname), the English Arsenal, the North American Gotham and the Moroccan As Far are in the fight.
This championship is one of the investments that FIFA makes to give greater promotion and visibility to the football played by them. However, the federation led by Gianni Infantino will not give this championship the same weight as the similar men’s championship.
The Champions Cup is a competition very similar to the current men’s Intercontinental Cup, the one in which Flamengo fell in the final against Paris Saint-Germain.
The winners of the main interclubs of each confederation (Uefa/Europe, Conmebol/South America, AFC/Asia, CAF/Africa, OFC/Oceania and Concacaf/North and Central America) participate, with a preliminary phase and a final phase.
The biggest difference is the benefit given in the men’s team to the European team, placed directly in the final game – the others are killed first until there is one left. In the women’s category, the European team does not have such a privilege and competes in one of the semifinals.
Before the matches that decide the finalists, the Champions Cup held two others, one in October, in China –Wuhan Jiangda (China) 1 x 0 Auckland United (New Zealand)–, another in December, in Morocco –As Far 2 x 1 Wuhan.
The semi-finals will be Corinthians x Gotham and Arsenal x As Far. Winners duel in the final, on Sunday (February 1st), losers face each other for third place, on the same day. All in London. In the Intercontinental Cup, there is currently no bronze match.
The subtle distinctions would allow FIFA to also name the women’s tournament the Intercontinental Cup, after all, the objective is to bring together, in a few games, the continental champions and offer the best a trophy. I didn’t want to.
Names aside, this is where the greatest inequality between male and female arises. For FIFA, whoever wins the Intercontinental Cup is a world champion. And whoever wins the Champions Cup will not have that status. Men above women.
In short, Brabas, if they reach the decision and beat Arsenal or As Far, will not be able to officially proclaim themselves world champions. Why? Because Infantino and his troupe want the world champion to only be the winner of the first women’s Club World Cup, scheduled for 2028, with 16 participants.
Until then, it would make sense, due to the size of each competition, but as long as there was parity with the men’s competition. There isn’t.
What FIFA does is borderline foolish. At the same time as the men’s team has two simultaneous world champions –Chelsea, winner of the new World Cup, with 32 clubs, which ended in July, and PSG, winner of the Intercontinental Cup, which ended in December–, the women’s team will have none.
You can change that, simplify. There are two ways.
1) Name the World Cup with 32 teams, designed to take place every four years, the Supermundial. A super world champion is established, and whoever wins the Intercontinental is world champion.
2) Demote the winners of the smaller tournaments held to date, calling them (including those who won in previous formats, since 1960) intercontinental champions, and Chelsea becomes the only world champion.
Politically, however, it doesn’t matter to FIFA, so we live this crazy Creole samba.
As for the feminine, how is it? How to refer to the Champions Cup champion? For FIFA, just like that: Champions Cup winner.
For me, it is little for a very valuable achievement. As “world champion” is officially inadvisable, it will be “global champion”. It’s loud and conveys relevance. Resolve. Take over whoever you want.
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