Thursday, August 04, 2005

Sayonara Toyota Cup?

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has admitted the Reds are still considering whether or not to take part in this season's World Club Championship.


FIFA are expecting Liverpool to compete in the World Club Championship in Japan in December despite the club casting doubts over their participation.

Liverpool have been drawn to play either Deportivo Saprissa or FC Sydney in the semi-finals of the competition, but Parry says the Reds must decide whether it would serve the club's best interests to take part.

A spokesman for world football's governing body said tonight: "FIFA looks forward to Liverpool's participation in the FIFA Club World Championship TOYOTA Cup Japan 2005 as winner of the UEFA Champions League."

As European Champions, the Reds are automatically invited to take part in December's showpiece event in Tokyo, when the winners from the different FIFA confederations meet for a week long competition.

But having also been made to defend their title from the first qualifying round, the club are concerned about the amount of fixtures they are playing.

"The World Club Championship draw has been made and this is something we are debating very carefully at the moment," chief executive Rick Parry told the club's website, www.liverpoolfc.tv.

"It is a world tournament that is prestigious but we have to balance that with the potential of losing another domestic fixture.

"We are already facing the disruption of two Premier League fixtures due to the Champions League third-round qualifier and the Super Cup (against CSKA Moscow, the UEFA Cup winners).

"All of this is down to the price of success and as we've discovered in the past, you tend not to get a lot of sympathy for being successful."

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