Club World Cup is 'ridiculous', says Frank

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank saw his side hold Chelsea to a 0-0 draw at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has described the Club World Cup as "ridiculous" ahead of its new format launching this summer.

The revamped inter-continental tournament, which is switching from a seven-team competition to one consisting of 32 sides, takes place in June.

Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid are among those competing in the enlarged inaugural edition.

The competition has proven controversial since plans were first announced there is just over two months from it starting when Al Ahly face Inter Miami on 15 June.

However last month it was announced that the overall prize fund, shared between all 32 teams based on different factors, will be £775m, with £407m divided between all participating clubs and £368m awarded on a performance-related basis.

Speaking on fixture congestion following his side's 0-0 draw with Chelsea at the Gtech Community Stadium, Frank said: "It happens all the time.

"I once had this season that we had the least rest between games when we played Carabao Cup games and we played teams with bigger squads. I didn't think that was fair and it was the one time I raised it but if there is two days in between, we deal with it no problem and with three days, always there is no problem.

"Then there is a bigger conversation about the amount of games over a year- but that is not for us and more for the teams in Europe. Then there is the Club World Cup, which is ridiculous in my opinion. Then I understand it is too much.

"It's just because it is another tournament. Who wants it? No one."

Later asked if he would be watching this summer's Club World Cup, Frank replied "no, I will enjoy my summer. No chance [will I watch it]."

Chelsea made a number of changes to their team which faced Brentford, mindful of Thursday's trip to Poland to face Legia Warsaw in the quarter-finals of the Conference League.

What is the Club World Cup?

The new expanded Fifa Club World Cup will take place in the United States from 15 June to 13 July 2025.

Previously an annual tournament contested by seven teams, the Club World Cup will now feature 32 teams and occur once every four years.

The tournament once branded a "mistake" by ex-Fifa president Sepp Blatter is undergoing a revamp as significant as it is controversial.

Arsene Wenger, who is Fifa's chief of global football development, said the expanded tournament could "help strengthen clubs around the world".

The revamped Club World Cup will run in a similar way to the international men's and women's World Cup competitions.

The 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four, who will play each other once in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each group will then go through to the knockout stages.

Unlike the international World Cups, the Club World Cup will have no third-place play-off.

The final will take place on 13 July 2025 and clubs will be competing for a top prize of £97m from a total prize pool of £775m.