It is a plan that is creating intrigue in some football boardrooms, and creating real concern in many more, but hasnt yet fostered much discussion among the sports wider world.
It should, because it has the potential to become the games most disruptive influence, and test its very parameters to cause a huge split. This is what is coming down the road or will certainly involve a lot of environmentally questionable long-haul flights.
This is Fifas controversial idea for an expanded Club World Cup, to take place in China in summer 2021. The current plan is for it to involve 24 clubs, from seven different continents, and offer an awful lot of prize money.
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That means it may do much more than just crown the new champions of the football world. It could well change the football world.
Thats how far-reaching it could be. Spanish league president Javier Tebas is the first to really start speaking out against this, and describes it as a threat to the sports eco-system, a risk, and like building castles in the sky.
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1/53 50 most expensive January transfers
Click through the gallery to see the biggest deals, steals and flops in history.
2/53 49= Andre Schurrle (£18m)
Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea (2013)
3/53 49= Olivier Giroud (£18m)
Arsenal to Chelsea (2018)
4/53 49= Andre Ayew (£18m)
West Ham to Swansea (2018)
5/53 49= Jonny Otto (£18m)
Atletico Madrid to Wolves (2019)
6/53 48. Gianni Imbula (£18.2m)
7/53 47. Manuel Akanji (£18.7m)
Basel to Borussia Dortmund (2018)
8/53 46. Guido Carillo (£19.1m)
Monaco to Southampton (2018)
9/53 45. Erling Haaland (£19.2m)
RB Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund (2020)
10/53 44. Enzo Perez (£19.5m)
Benfica to Valencia (2015)
11/53 40= Yohan Cabaye (£20m)
Newcastle to Paris Saint-Germain (2014)
12/53 40= Odion Ighalo (£20m)
Watford to Changchun Yatai (2017)
13/53 40= Morgan Schneiderlin (£20m)
Manchester United to Everton (2017)
14/53 40= Theo Walcott (£20m)
Arsenal to Everton (2018)
15/53 38= Nemanja Matic (£21m)
Benfica to Chelsea (2014)
16/53 38= Miguel Almiron (£21m)
Atlanta to Newcastle (2019)
17/53 36= David Luiz (£21.5m)
Benfica to Chelsea (2011)
18/53 36= Stanislav Lobotka (£21.5m)
Celta Vigo to Napoli (2020)
19/53 35. Paco Alcacer (£22.7m)
Barcelona to Borussia Dortmund (2019)
20/53 34. Luis Suarez (£22.8m)
21/53 33. Juan Cuadrado (£23.3m)
Fiorentina to Chelsea (2015)
22/53 30= Ramires (£25m)
Chelsea to Jiangsu Suning (2016)
23/53 30= Dimitri Payet (£25m)
West Ham to Marseille (2017)
24/53 30= Lucas Moura (£25m)
Paris Saint-Germain to Tottenham (2018)
25/53 29. Goncalo Guedes (£25.5m)
Benfica to Paris Saint-Germain (2017)
26/53 28. Reinier (£25.6m)
Flamengo to Real Madrid (2020)
27/53 26= Gabriel Jesus (£27m)
Palmeiras to Manchester City (2017)
28/53 26= Cenk Tosun (£27m)
Besiktas to Everton (2018)
29/53 25. Wilfried Bony (£27.5m)
Swansea to Manchester City (2015)
30/53 24. Inigo Martinez (£28m)
Real Sociedad to Athletic Club (2018)
31/53 23. Dejan Kulusevski (£29.8m)
Atalanta to Juventus (2020)
32/53 22. Willian (£30m)
Anzhi Makhachkala to Chelsea (2013)
33/53 21. Krysztof Piatek (£30.9m)
34/53 20. Lucas Paqueta (£31.4m)
Flamengo to AC Milan (2019)
35/53 18= Shoya Nakijima (£31.5m)
Portimonense to Al-Duhail (2018)
36/53 18= Edin Dzeko (£31.5m)
Wolfsburg to Manchester City (2011)
37/53 17. Julian Draxler (£34.1m)
Wolfsburg to Paris Saint-Germain (2017)
38/53 16. Leandro Paredes (£34.7m)
Zenit to Paris Saint-Germain (2019)
39/53 15. Andy Carroll (£35m)
Newcastle to Liverpool (2011)
40/53 14. Cedric Bakambu (£35.3m)
Villarreal to Beijing Guoan (2018)
41/53 13. Jackson Martinez (£35.7m)
Atletico Madrid to Guangzhou Evergrande (2016)
42/53 12. Juan Mata (£37.1m)
Chelsea to Manchester United (2014)
43/53 11. Lucas Moura (£38m)
44/53 10. Alex Teixeira (£38.5m)
Shakhtar Donetsk to Jiangsu Suning (2016)
45/53 9. Paulinho (£44.2m)
Barcelona to Guangzhou Evergrande (2019)
46/53 8. Fernando Torres (£50m)
Liverpool to Chelsea (2011)
47/53 7. Oscar (£52m)
Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG (2017)
48/53 6. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£56m)
Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal (2018)
49/53 5. Diego Costa (£57m)
Chelsea to Atletico Madrid (2017)
50/53 4. Aymeric Laporte (£57.2m)
Athletic Club to Manchester City (2018)
51/53 3. Christian Pulisic (£57.5m)
Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea (2019)
52/53 2. Virgil van Dijk (£75m)
Southampton to Liverpool (2018)
53/53 1. Philippe Coutinho (£106m)
Liverpool to Barcelona (2018)
1/53 50 most expensive January transfers
Click through the gallery to see the biggest deals, steals and flops in history.
2/53 49= Andre Schurrle (£18m)
Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea (2013)
3/53 49= Olivier Giroud (£18m)
Arsenal to Chelsea (2018)
4/53 49= Andre Ayew (£18m)
West Ham to Swansea (2018)
5/53 49= Jonny Otto (£18m)
Atletico Madrid to Wolves (2019)
6/53 48. Gianni Imbula (£18.2m)
7/53 47. Manuel Akanji (£18.7m)
Basel to Borussia Dortmund (2018)
8/53 46. Guido Carillo (£19.1m)
Monaco to Southampton (2018)
9/53 45. Erling Haaland (£19.2m)
RB Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund (2020)
10/53 44. Enzo Perez (£19.5m)
Benfica to Valencia (2015)
11/53 40= Yohan Cabaye (£20m)
Newcastle to Paris Saint-Germain (2014)
12/53 40= Odion Ighalo (£20m)
Watford to Changchun Yatai (2017)
13/53 40= Morgan Schneiderlin (£20m)
Manchester United to Everton (2017)
14/53 40= Theo Walcott (£20m)
Arsenal to Everton (2018)
15/53 38= Nemanja Matic (£21m)
Benfica to Chelsea (2014)
16/53 38= Miguel Almiron (£21m)
Atlanta to Newcastle (2019)
17/53 36= David Luiz (£21.5m)
Benfica to Chelsea (2011)
18/53 36= Stanislav Lobotka (£21.5m)
Celta Vigo to Napoli (2020)
19/53 35. Paco Alcacer (£22.7m)
Barcelona to Borussia Dortmund (2019)
20/53 34. Luis Suarez (£22.8m)
21/53 33. Juan Cuadrado (£23.3m)
Fiorentina to Chelsea (2015)
22/53 30= Ramires (£25m)
Chelsea to Jiangsu Suning (2016)
23/53 30= Dimitri Payet (£25m)
West Ham to Marseille (2017)
24/53 30= Lucas Moura (£25m)
Paris Saint-Germain to Tottenham (2018)
25/53 29. Goncalo Guedes (£25.5m)
Benfica to Paris Saint-Germain (2017)
26/53 28. Reinier (£25.6m)
Flamengo to Real Madrid (2020)
27/53 26= Gabriel Jesus (£27m)
Palmeiras to Manchester City (2017)
28/53 26= Cenk Tosun (£27m)
Besiktas to Everton (2018)
29/53 25. Wilfried Bony (£27.5m)
Swansea to Manchester City (2015)
30/53 24. Inigo Martinez (£28m)
Real Sociedad to Athletic Club (2018)
31/53 23. Dejan Kulusevski (£29.8m)
Atalanta to Juventus (2020)
32/53 22. Willian (£30m)
Anzhi Makhachkala to Chelsea (2013)
33/53 21. Krysztof Piatek (£30.9m)
34/53 20. Lucas Paqueta (£31.4m)
Flamengo to AC Milan (2019)
35/53 18= Shoya Nakijima (£31.5m)
Portimonense to Al-Duhail (2018)
36/53 18= Edin Dzeko (£31.5m)
Wolfsburg to Manchester City (2011)
37/53 17. Julian Draxler (£34.1m)
Wolfsburg to Paris Saint-Germain (2017)
38/53 16. Leandro Paredes (£34.7m)
Zenit to Paris Saint-Germain (2019)
39/53 15. Andy Carroll (£35m)
Newcastle to Liverpool (2011)
40/53 14. Cedric Bakambu (£35.3m)
Villarreal to Beijing Guoan (2018)
41/53 13. Jackson Martinez (£35.7m)
Atletico Madrid to Guangzhou Evergrande (2016)
42/53 12. Juan Mata (£37.1m)
Chelsea to Manchester United (2014)
43/53 11. Lucas Moura (£38m)
44/53 10. Alex Teixeira (£38.5m)
Shakhtar Donetsk to Jiangsu Suning (2016)
45/53 9. Paulinho (£44.2m)
Barcelona to Guangzhou Evergrande (2019)
46/53 8. Fernando Torres (£50m)
Liverpool to Chelsea (2011)
47/53 7. Oscar (£52m)
Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG (2017)
48/53 6. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£56m)
Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal (2018)
49/53 5. Diego Costa (£57m)
Chelsea to Atletico Madrid (2017)
50/53 4. Aymeric Laporte (£57.2m)
Athletic Club to Manchester City (2018)
51/53 3. Christian Pulisic (£57.5m)
Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea (2019)
52/53 2. Virgil van Dijk (£75m)
Southampton to Liverpool (2018)
53/53 1. Philippe Coutinho (£106m)
Liverpool to Barcelona (2018)
The 57-year-old was obviously speaking from a certain amount of self-interest, given he said all this at a press conference to launch his own competitions new La Liga TV platform, but they are views shared right across the game and right up to the top of Uefa.
The concerns are that, as well as bringing together all of the sports super clubs, it will bring together all of the sports major problems: who controls it; who it serves; political influence; financial disparity and a calendar that is already being stretched to the limit.
It is that last point that has already caused the first problem with this Club World Cup, and raised the first big questions of Fifas level of foresight in this regard. The plans have already seen the African Nations moved back to January-February, creating all manner of headaches for managers.
It has also left Fifa open to accusations of unthinking hypocrisy, since they have effectively gone back on the reasons for moving the tournament to the summer in the first place. The African Nations was initially switched to streamline the calendar and spare complaints about clubs losing players halfway through a season, while also affecting their physical conditioning. Fifa are now trying to make space in that same calendar for an even bigger event, and that at a point when everyone else is trying to work out a schedule to suit the global bodys ill-thought-out winter World Cup in Qatar.
Whatever about being unable to make it up, its very difficult to make a working calendar for it.
This, of course, at a time when managers are similarly complaining about players being pushed to physical breaking point; when there are fair complaints the calendar actually needs to be reduced.
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Worse, it could also push the games very financial structure to breaking point. This is what Tebas means about its eco-system and the established structures of national leagues and continental competitions. The balance of that eco-system is already under threat by huge disparities in financial revenue, which have created a strand of about 11 super-clubs, that have started to erode the very competitiveness of the sport. This can be seen in the record points returns so many of the wealthiest clubs have enjoyed in the last few years, as well as the number of domestic titles that are being retained again and again. It is creating a fabric-tearing financial stretch in football.
And Fifas plan in the midst of this? It is not to introduce greater re-distribution. It is to send even more money towards the super-clubs. And mind-boggling figures at that. That is what its going to take to actually make this event happen, and what a lot of it is about.
With the major European clubs someway resistant to this Club World Cup which absolutely needs their participation to succeed the only possible solution is to offer more money than they can say no to. This is effectively the plan, especially with talk of so many super-wealthy backers.
If the clubs are offered starting amounts of £40m or £50m, they could earn a seasons worth of Champions League earnings in a single summer. That could have a more damaging effect on the game than the way Uefas elite competition has created a series of singularly dominant title-winners from Europes lower-ranked leagues, out of merely getting to the qualifying stages.
It could have a completely destructive effect on the continents that dont see anywhere near the level of Uefas money.
Fifa has long envied the Champions League’s profitability (Getty)
I think its striking, a few weeks ago, Fifa was talking about how much would be paid if they went to China, Tebas said. They have been talking about redistribution of revenue, but havent discussed the impact this would have in different countries.
Lets imagine the two teams from Argentina, its £40m or £50m from a tournament such as this, this would have an impact on the Argentinean Super League. So we should first look at how its going to impact this. Thats why I am so surprised about this. They havent looked at the consequences of these tournaments.
When theres going to be a problem with the [2022] World Cup [and the calendar], theyre going to organise a new competition. And I think thats not the way forward.
I am very critical of the Club World Cup, and how this whole process has come out.
It also provokes the most serious questions of all, about the processes at the very top of the game.
Where is the consideration for the impact of all this? And what exactly does Fifa see its role as? Is there actual motivation to this beyond the global body envying how much Uefa make from the Champions League and looking to replicate it, as well increasing their revenues beyond the quadrennial main World Cup?
It is why Tebas is right to say that it feels like this marks a point where Fifa stopped being regulators and organisers, not to mention safeguards of the game. It is difficult not to think there is an element of competitiveness with Uefa, and their flagship club event. They want a piece of that Champions League money.
Javier Tebas has serious concerns (Getty)
For many involved, it points to an issue with Fifa presidents, as well as one significant difference between Gianni Infantino and Sepp Blatter. The argument is that these figures dont just see themselves as managing the sport and viewing everything in a collective fashion but want to leave a legacy. And an individual legacy at that.
While Blatter obviously had many faults, those who know him say there was at least a certain romance in his outlook, in that he effectively wanted to win a Nobel Peace Prize through footballs potential for bringing the planet together. Infantino is seen as much more interested in bringing money in.
And that has fostered some questionable links that he hasnt yet offered answers to. There is already the fact that, following on from World Cups in Russia and Qatar, this expanded Club World Cup is set to take place in yet another country with a much-criticised human rights record in China.
To add to that, it is commonly believed that at least one of the backers for this event are Saudi Arabian interests.
Fifa would thereby be facilitating the use of football for sportswashing, rather than actually scrutinising and limiting it.
It doesnt mean the rest of the football world is going to so easily facilitate this competition, though. Tebas has already talked about how Uefas Ceferin is up for a confrontation.
Infantino and eferin are set to clash (Getty)
If Ceferin defends European football as I have seen with national League and championships in balance, which is the current trend, I welcome this clash; this confrontation.
The Spanish League supports Ceferin. An organisation like Fifa is supposed to be a regulatory body. They draft the different calendars and when we need to play. Sadly, from organising World Cups, they are talking about Club World Cups and having that every two years.
That is not an option because it would change the status quo. This cant happen. This sort of confrontation will never harm us if it goes along the path Ceferin is trying to defend.
It could prove one of footballs biggest fights. It is certainly going to be one of its biggest issues.