Premier League boss to boycott Club World Cup

boss Thomas Frank insists he will take zero interest in the Club World Cup in the summer. The Dane labelled the tournament "ridiculous" after his side drew with Chelsea, who will take part in the competition.

Chelsea and Manchester City are the teams taking part in the expanded Club World Cup. Thirty-two teams are travelling to the United States in the summer to compete in a similar format to the international World Cup. Its previous incarnation saw seven teams compete in a much shorter tournament each December. The new Club World Cup will take place every four years and see teams share a lucrative £774million prize pot.

However, there have been criticisms of the tournament. The main argument is that it provides yet another event in an already packed schedule for players. Brentford head coach Frank is not convinced by its merits and says he will snub it. The 51-year-old pointedly suggested that he will instead "enjoy summer".

Frank called the Club World Cup "ridiculous" before adding: "Who wants it? I won't watch it, I will enjoy summer, no chance."

According to the , the BBC and ITV have declined to bid for the right to broadcast the Club World Cup. Both will show the Women's European Championship, with the Club World Cup starting two days before the quarter-finals. Sky Sports and TNT Sports, the main subscription channels for sport in the UK, showed no interest. It has reportedly left FIFA 'increasingly concerned' about the visibility of its new tournament in a key market.

Streaming platform Dazn agreed to pay £787m ($1billion) for global Club World Cup rights in a deal which involved the company pledging to make all 63 matches available free-to-air on its app. DAZN have also agreed to sublicense the tournament to bigger broadcasters in key territories.

Frank's comments came on a day when Frank's Brentford faced a Chelsea starting 11 which did not feature Cole Palmer. Enzo Maresca made five changes and blamed his decision on the scheduling of the match, which came less than 72 hours after the Blues beat Tottenham on Thursday night.

The Italian said: "You know, we said many times that when it's a transition game, it's demanding, physicality demanding. So Tottenham was more transition than compared to today, for instance. But at this stage I think 24 hours make the difference."

If Palmer plays in each of Chelsea's seven remaining Premier League games and the west Londoners reach the World World Cup final, the 22-year-old will have played in 51 matches for club and country this season.