Fifa’s hailing of its Club World Cup has been labelled “nothing more than a fiction” by the president of leading players’ global union Fifpro.
In a scathing statement, Sergio Marchi appeared to compare the world governing body’s president Gianni Infantino to the Roman emperor Nero.
And he also claimed Fifa “chose to continue increasing its revenue at the expense of the players’ bodies and health”.
It comes after BBC Sport learned that Fifpro was not invited to a key meeting on player welfare that Infantino held on the eve of the Club World Cup final with representatives from other unions.
Last year, amid a backlash over the expansion of the Club World Cup, Fifpro filed a legal complaint against Fifa, claiming it had abused its role under European competition law by adding more pressure to the fixture schedule.
Fifa has denied the claims, and at the weekend Infantino called the tournament “the most successful club competition in the world”.
But tensions have now intensified, with Fifpro president Marchi insisting that while the Club World Cup “generated enthusiasm among numerous fans and allowed some of the world’s leading figures to be seen in a single tournament… this competition hides a dangerous disconnect with the true reality faced by the majority of footballers around the world”.
Marchi added: “What was presented as a global celebration of football was nothing more than a fiction created by Fifa, promoted by its president, without dialogue, sensitivity, and respect for those who sustain the game with their daily efforts.
“A grandiloquent staging inevitably reminiscent of the ‘bread and circuses’ of Nero’s Rome, entertainment for the masses while behind the scenes inequality, precariousness, and the lack of protection for the true protagonists deepen.”
Fifth Roman emperor Nero threw spectacular games and events which made him popular with ordinary people, but is better remembered for his brutality and cruelty.