REAL MADRID insisted today they will play in next summer’s expanded Club World Cup “with the utmost enthusiasm” after head coach Carlo Ancelotti had been quoted in the Italian media saying the Spanish side would refuse to take part.

Real qualified for the 32-team event in the United States by virtue of winning the 2022 Champions League, as they took the top European club honours for a 15th time earlier this month.

Ancelotti had been quoted as telling Italian newspaper Il Giornale that Real would refuse an invitation to participate, but took to social media platform X today to say his remarks “were not interpreted in the way he intended.”

Real subsequently said in a club statement: “Real Madrid informs that at no time has its participation in the new Club World Cup, to be organised by Fifa in the next 2024-25 season, been questioned.”

The World Leagues Association and world players’ union Fifpro last month threatened Fifa with legal action unless the Club World Cup was rescheduled.

They said in a letter to Fifa that the scheduling of the competition would cause “economic harm” to domestic leagues and would push players “beyond their limits.”

Fifa refused to back down, saying it was “fully within its rights” to set the parameters of the competition.