Jurgen Klopp accused of 'lacking respect' as ex-Liverpool boss' comments spark backlash

Bulgarian football legend Hristo Stoichkov has taken issue with Jurgen Klopp’s “lack of respect” for the FIFA Club World Cup. The former Barcelona forward and 1994 Ballon d’Or winner, who is now a FIFA ambassador, defended the tournament, which is currently being played in the United States.

Last year, the FIFA Council decided to expand the Club World Cup to 32 teams, with 63 games crammed into just 28 days. The previous format was a far smaller event, which involved just seven teams playing over 11 days at a single location.

The decision to expand the competition was highly controversial, with many players and managers believing it has unnecessarily added to an already packed fixture schedule.

A primary criticism is that players from the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain will get an even shorter summer break, which increases the likelihood of fatigue and burnout. And one man who has not been afraid to make his strong feelings known is former Liverpool manager Klopp.

The German, 58, slammed the tournament by telling German publication Welt am Sonntag: “The Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football. People who have never had anything to do with day-to-day business are coming up with ideas.

“I fear that next season players will suffer injuries they've never had before. If not, then it'll happen at the World Cup or afterwards.”

The current Red Bull global chief of football’s brutally honest assessment was backed up by Barcelona star and Ballon d’Or candidate Raphinha, despite his side failing to qualify for the tournament.

The Brazilian said: "You have to go, no questions asked. We follow orders. But as a player, having to give up the only vacation period we get to play yet another tournament is very tough. Many who are playing in the Club World Cup won’t get any real break. That’s unacceptable.”

But Stoichkov says he has been left surprised by the backlash, insisting that the Club World Cup has been a positive addition to the football calendar and deserves more respect. He told Marca and El Mundo: “I didn’t expect this from Jurgen, I have a lot of respect for him. Maybe he feels sickened by Salzburg being knocked out of the competition, because he is a director of Red Bull.

“When Liverpool played [in the World Cup] nobody complained, when they received money nobody complained. I think we need to have more respect in these tournaments. I have already participated in it when there were only a few games, but I think Gianni [Infantino] and FIFA have done something different.

“We have brought together many cultures, new systems, new tactics and many different teams that didn’t know each other before participating in a tournament like this.”

Klopp, meanwhile, has long been an advocate of player welfare since his time as Liverpool manager, having regularly spoken on issues relating to the heavy schedule in English football and its impact on injuries.

In August 2022, he compared the issue of player welfare to climate change ahead of that year's World Cup taking place mid-season in Qatar, saying: “If you go to the final at a World Cup and win it or lose or a third-place match you are already quite busy and then the rest starts a week later.

“If all the players then have a break it is not a problem, it is good. It is like a winter break which I had that in Germany as a player a lot, four weeks (off), stuff like that.

“When I start talking about it, I get really angry... It is like with the climate. We all know it has to change but nobody is saying what we have to do.

“My problem is that as much as everybody knows it's not right, nobody talks often enough about it that it will be changed. Something has to change. This World Cup happens at the wrong moment for the wrong reasons.”

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