ZURICH/TOKYO: World football federation FIFA may need to find a new host for its unloved Club World Cup in December.

Reports from Tokyo suggest that the Covid pandemic concerns which clouded the fan-free Olympic and Paralympic Games have led the Japanese Football Association to indicate that it can no longer play host as planned between December 9-19.

Japan had been due to host the tournament for the first time in five years, as part of the JFA centenary celebrations but it fears the risks of the virus spreading and uncertainty over the revenues without fans.

The Club World Cup, which matches the champion clubs of the six continental confederations against each other, should have generated a profit for the JFA, with an attendance of more than 60,000 people for the semi-finals and the final at Yokohama.

In fact the Club World Cup is already living on borrowed time after FIFA president Gianni Infantino sought to ulpgrade it to a 24-team tournament. Plans for that have been put on ice.

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