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Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has labelled the expanded Club World Cup the "worst idea ever implemented in football" due to its impact on player workload and recovery time.

Klopp, a long-term critic of the ever-expanding football calendar who is now working as head of global soccer for Red Bull, feels the timing and duration of the tournament in its new format heighten the risk of burnout and injuries for players.

"In the end, it's all about the game and not the surrounding aspects - and that's why the Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football in this regard," he told Welt in Germany.

"People who have never had anything to do with day-to-day business or who no longer have anything to do with it come up with something."

He added: "Last year we had the Copa America and European Championship, this year the Club World Cup and next year then the World Cup.

"This does not mean any real recovery for the players who are there, neither physically nor mentally.

"An NBA player, who also earns a big salary, has a four-month break every year.

This is what (Liverpool defender) Virgil van Dijk got in his entire career."

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This year's Club World Cup, which is taking place in the United States, began on June 14, three weeks after the end of the Premier League season, and concludes on July 13, four weeks before the start of the new top-flight campaign.

The competition features representatives from across the world, including Manchester City and Chelsea this year, and is due to be held every four years.

Before the start of this year's tournament, FIFPro, the representative organisation of global player unions, recommended a mandatory four-week off-season break for players to ease calendar congestion and protect player welfare.



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