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Fifa World Cup 2018
SportFootball

As Fifa World Cup comes to an end, Chinese interest in club version is back on the agenda as Gianni Infantino meets Jack Ma

Global football boss hints that long predicted expansion could come as early as next year according to reports from the Mainland

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Fifa President Gianni Infantino participates in the annual conference of the South American Football Confederation, CONMEBOL, in Buenos Aires in April 2018. Photo: AP
Jonathan White
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has told Alibaba owner Jack Ma that China has a “big chance” to host the new format of the Club World Cup when it relaunches in 2019, according to reports on the Mainland.
The global football chief met Ma in an hour-long meeting in Moscow during the World Cup, Alisports CEO Zhang Dazhong told Xinhua.

Zhang was present at the meeting and declared it “very likely” that both the 2019 and 2020 editions of the competition would be held in China, becoming the first official Fifa tournament in the country since the 2007 Women’s World Cup.

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Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo kissing the Club World Cup trophy after winning it in 2016. Photo: EPA
Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo kissing the Club World Cup trophy after winning it in 2016. Photo: EPA

Alibaba’s E-Auto offshoot signed a partnership agreement with Fifa three years ago, while Alibaba Cloud became “Presenting Partner of the Fifa Club World Cup” in a five-year deal signed at the end of 2017.

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It has long been rumoured that the annual tournament, which features the winners of the premier continental club competitions from each of Fifa’s six member confederations alongside a team from the hosts, was due for a revamp.

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