Mark Langdon: Inter Miami cannot be welcome in new Club World Cup

'Bouncin' in the club where the heat is on, all night on the beach till the break of dawn, I'm goin' to Miami, welcome to Miami'.

It's not just Will Smith who enjoys a trip to Miami and it looked like Fifa president Gianni Infantino was loving life in Fort Lauderdale last weekend as he picked up the mic during Inter Miami's celebrations for winning the Supporters' Shield and declared "Based on the outstanding performance of this year, you deserve to be, and you will be, qualified for the Club World Cup 2025!"

If that wasn't embarrassing enough, the announcement was met with rapturous cheers from the fans of Inter Miami, as Infantino milked the applause. "I am proud to announce that as one of the best clubs in the world," he claimed with a straight face "you are deserved participants."

There had been no suggestion that the winners of the Supporters' Shield - given to the team who topped the MLS regular season - would get a berth in the new 32-team tournament next year and none of the other qualifiers have achieved their place in the competition due to domestic performances, but then out of nowhere a new criterion was created.

It's obviously got nothing to do with the fact that Lionel Messi plays for the David Beckham-owned Inter Miami and that Fifa have not yet managed to secure TV rights for a competition that is yet come to the forefront of many minds, but will dominate the calendar next summer when a total of 12 different venues across the US will play host to 63 matches that basically nobody wants to play in.

Al Ahly, Wydad, Es Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns, Al Hilal, Urawa Red Diamonds, Al Ain, Ulsan HD, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Inter, Porto, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Red Bull Salzburg, Monterrey, Seattle Sounders, Club Leon, Pachuca, Auckland City, Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense, River Plate, Boca Juniors and Inter Miami will be joined by this year's Copa Libertadores winners for an utterly pointless competition that will run from June 15 to July 13 next year.

As a special nod towards winning the Supporters' Shield, Infantino also said that Miami would host the opening game, which, of course, has absolutely nothing to do with the probable presence of Messi, who is in no way being used as a marketing tool. Beckham, meanwhile, was lapping it up. 

They have no shame and nor do the Spanish footballing bigwigs who are pushing hard for Barcelona's La Liga fixture against Atletico Madrid in December to be played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami rather than, you know, where it should be played, in the Catalan capital.

Fifa's previous stance of not allowing domestic matches to be played abroad has softened since a Council meeting in Bangkok - it was never going to be on Zoom was it? - and a working group was set up with a view to allowing foreign fixtures to be played on foreign soil.

The waters have been tested by La Liga and what would once have been considered unthinkable is now on the verge of becoming a reality. Once the seal is broken there will be no going back and despite denials from the Premier League the push for English top-flight games abroad will once again be top of the agenda.

You have been warned. If they take La Liga, the Premier League will be next. Welcome to Miami, Brentford and Ipswich.

Read more from Mark Langdon . . .

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Mark Langdon: Manchester United misery should not be a shock
Mark Langdon: Mikel Arteta keeps getting the big decisions right  

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