Kaveh Solhekol probably hasn’t done himself any favours after publicly disagreeing with Jurgen Klopp on Sky Sports.
The respected journalist was responding to comments the former Liverpool boss had made about the revitalised FIFA Club World Cup.
The 58-year-old once again hammered the drum of player welfare in his analysis of the post-season tournament.
“In the end, it’s all about the game and not the surrounding aspects – and that’s why the Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football in this regard,” the former Premier League manager told Welt (via TNT Sports).
“People who have never had anything to do with day-to-day business or who no longer have anything to do with it come up with something.
“Last year we had the Copa America and European Championship, this year the Club World Cup and next year, then, the World Cup.
“This does not mean any real recovery for the players who are there, neither physically nor mentally.
“An NBA player, who also earns a big salary, has a four-month break every year. This is what Virgil van Dijk got in his entire career.”
Klopp has since taken up a role with Red Bull as the energy drink company’s Head of Global Football.
How did Sky’s Kaveh Solhekol respond to Jurgen Klopp?
Solhekol urged Klopp to ‘go and play padel or go for a swim’ before lecturing the Champions League-winning former manager on the financial realities of modern football.
“One thing I’d say to Jurgen Klopp is: Jurgen Klopp is now a very senior figure at Red Bull. Does he have a problem with RB Salzburg playing in this competition? I think RB Salzburg probably ended up making £20m-30m-40m from turning up and playing here in the group stages,” the Sky Sports journalist said.
“And also, let’s get real. If these clubs were not playing in these tournaments, what would they be doing? They’d probably be on holiday right now, but once they’re back from holiday, guess what they’d be doing?
“They’d be coming to America for a pre-season tour, they’d be going to the Far East for a pre-season tour.
“Unfortunately, football is not just a sport any more. Whether you like it or not, football is a business; it’s all about money now. If you don’t like it – don’t watch it.”
"If you don't like the Club World Cup, go and play padel or go for a swim" 🏊
Kaveh Solhekol has some advice for Jurgen Klopp after he said the "Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football" 🤔 pic.twitter.com/iVngjqBcEJ
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 28, 2025
Look, we’re not all naive here, and neither is our former boss. Everyone appreciates that football has evolved into this ever-insatiable financial behemoth where clubs are fighting to get close to breaking even, never mind profitability.
Football needs to listen to Klopp
But it’s also incredibly naive, in our view, for commentators to, again, overlook the most crucial part of Jurgen Klopp’s argument: player welfare.
Have RB Salzburg benefited from the Club World Cup? Of course they have.
Will the extra games be conducive to maintaining high competitive standards in Europe’s top five leagues, in amongst a vast swathe of domestic and international games? Absolutely not.
Regardless of the financial realities of the sport, we surely shouldn’t be trying to normalise a reality where players are merely robotic cash cows to be milked for all their worth.
Yes, these are extremely well-compensated individuals who don’t really understand the true meaning of financial hardship. But does that really entitle FIFA and UEFA to run them into the ground?
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What an insane comment from the journo. One of the most respected and gifted men in the game says what many supporters think, and this bloke shows a complete lack of understanding and respect. It’s clear that in many respects football is a business but proper business have a plan which protects and utilises its ‘assets ’ to best effect. To place the players in harm and saturate the market isn’t good ‘business’. This guy needs to remember who he is, some meaningless mouthpiece making a living from pretending that Sky ‘sources’ exist.
Tats rich coming for someone as a reporter who probably spends his life swanning around The world ,and having around 4. Holidays a year W ⚓
Jurgen is 100% right on the money/again!
Kaveh Solhekol is talking through his employers pay packet/has no interest in the game as a whole whatsoever, and quite frankly is a Richard Cranium!
Idiotic Gianni Infantino is worse than Sepp Blatter and probably sees this tournament as a means to obtain more extracurricular benefits….does not give a hoot about the welfare of the game or the players, YNWA!
As much as I love football and am a lifelong fan of
LFC and really miss it through the summer break this maintains the appetite for the new season first and foremost I fully agree with Juergen Klopps statement, players like athletes need quality downtime to enjoy family life, reflect on the season and refresh their bodies.
The only worthwhile “out of season “ this year has been the Under 21’s International Tournament!
Pete W