Why Was The Confederations Cup Scrapped?

The footballing world has numerous stars in it. They include: the supergiant star, red dwarf star, white dwarf star, red giant star, main sequence star, protostar, tauri star and even the black stars.

Many of these stars have shone so bright but in a matter of years faded away.

Some looked like future contenders of the biggest prizes in the footballing world; heirs to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo throne (whosoever your GOAT is) but after so many years we don't seem to remember if they ever kicked a ball.

As fans we wonder how we forget so many people, events and dramas in football, so quickly.

One notable example is the Confederations Cup.

Many football fans across the globe are guilty of this football crime; forgetting the CONFEDERATION CUP which was supposed to be played this year.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I realized this. How could I have forgotten!

I felt guilty. Guilty as charged.

And just in case you've been living under a rock and you don't know what the Confederations cup is?

The Confederations Cup WAS a sporting event that brought the champion team of every continental tournament together, in the year leading up to the World Cup. Emphasis on 'was.'

An event that brought so much joy to many hearts especially when having to see champions going head to head.

How it began?

It began first in the year 1992 as King Fahd cup in Saudi Arabia (in honor of the occupant of the throne) where the champions of continental cups are invited to contest against Saudi Arabia.

The cup had its following editions, still in Saudi Arabia, in 1995 and 1997 of which Fifa took over, and renamed it "The Confederations Cup."

The Evolution

The event evolved over the years. After its official takeover, the first event was hosted by Saudi Arabia until Fifa began to move it to countries who will host the World Cup tournament. As a result, it became a dress rehearsal for the World Cup event which will be held a year later.

The first staging was in South Korea and Japan in 2001 as a biennial event before it was changed to a quadrennial event from 2005, a test event for the Fifa World Cup host.

It was a joy to watch many continental champions coming face to face with themselves. The event's history was short but had many talking points.

The Talking Points

From housing Brazil's collection of stars – Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario, Rivaldo, Bebeto, Denilson, Dida and Cafu to Mexico's 4-3 thrashing of Brazil.

The death of Marc Vivienne Foe and the emotional sight of seeing Rigobert Song and Marcel Dessaily lifting the trophy together in honor of Foe's death.

Brazil's last minute comeback in 2009.

The most intriguing should be in 2013 when Tahiti participated and jubilated their hearts out after they scored their only goal against Nigeria. They were later punished 10-0 and 8-0 by Argentina and Uruguay respectively.

The amateurish Oceania champions will never be forgotten for lightening up the tournament and energizing the football world with their passion.

The same year, Neymar, a wonderkid from Santos who later becomes the most expensive player in the world, announced himself on the global stage through displays that earned him the tournament best player.

Who participates in the events?

The teams that participate in this event are 8 in number.

Contintinental Cup winners from Africa (CAF); North, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf); South America (Conmebol); Asia (AFC); Europe (UEFA); Oceania (OFC) Winner of the last FIFA World Cup and the Host country.

If a team is repeated, the best-placed team in the corresponding continental tournament was taken into account. For example, during the 2005 edition, Brazil was the reigning world champion (2002) and the Copa América (2004), so that Conmebol’s place went to Argentina, finalist of the latter championship.

The attendance history of the event was noteworthy. During the Fahd era, it recorded as high as 70,000 participants and then the attendance dwindled. In 2001, we saw over 65,000 participants in Japan but 1999 records over 110,000 participants.

Why was it scrapped?

The competition which was historically dominated by Brazil was scrapped by Fifa. Although, many countries from America and Europe opted against this and even threatened to boycott the coming event. Yet, the Fifa decision still stood.

In Carlos Cordeiro, US Soccer President words:
“It’s done and over with,” said Cordeiro. “In place of Confederations Cup there will be intra-continental play-offs to get to that 48-team (World Cup).”

The major reason for the scrapping of this event is that the competition has never fully captured global attention in the international calendar.

In 2017, the German team won the tournament by a weakened side, further damaging its image. This was the zenith.

Also, the competition winners never went on winning the World Cup events. The reason was placed on fatigue which could be well explained by Germany's decision to field a weaker team for such type of competition.

The competition is replaced by Club World Cup which is supposed to hold this year.

However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic that led to the postponement of the Euros and Copa América into 2021, it doesn't make sense to play the club world cup that same year.

Conclusion

A competitive event like Confederation Cup was swept down the carpet and you could be discharged and acquitted for forgetting about such a tournament especially considering the amount of mouth watering tournaments like Euros and Copa América that were on display this same year.

We can only hope that the Fifa World Club Cup offers us more intriguing football than the Confederations Cup did.

Personally, do you think Fifa was right in their decision? Let us know in the comment section.