Fifa president Sepp Blatter has told Liverpool they must play in December’s Club World Championship in Japan regardless of their fixture congestion.
Liverpool face a fixture pile-up after Uefa’s decision to allow them to enter the Champions League next season at the first qualifying round stage in July.
The Fifa event would add two games in Yokohama on 15 and 18 December to their already-hectic schedule.
“It is binding for them. The cup is in Japan and they will have to travel. Do you think they won’t play? They will play,” Blatter told the Daily Mail.
In the six-team Club World Championship, European champions Liverpool will the winners of South America’s Copa Libertadores along with four other clubs from federations in Asia, Africa, Central America and Australia.
