Next summer, the United States will play host to an event that may define the legacy of FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino.

The Club World Cup, featuring 32 men’s teams gathered from leagues across the globe, is Infantino’s signature innovation, a competition he is so wedded to that his name appears on the newly created championship trophy not once but twice.

The tournament will take place in June and July in stadiums around the United States and is an attempt to deliver on Infantino’s oft-quoted catchphrase about making soccer “truly global.”

It is his ambition to create a quadrennial club tournament that will grow into one of sports’ tent-pole events and endure long after he leaves office.

But despite Infantino’s high hopes, there is no guarantee that the tournament will be a success.

Obstacles and missteps have blighted the path to the first game, and a huge uncertainty over its funding continues, even as a draw for the event is set to take place in Miami on December 5.

In Europe, leagues and the global players union have filed lawsuits over what they say are Infantino and FIFA’s unilateral moves to add more events to an already congested global calendar that risks the health of players. Fans have also expressed dismay at how, in an effort to generate interest, FIFA appeared to have found a way to secure a place for Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami squad, eliminated from the MLS playoffs in the opening round.

That happened despite Infantino’s insistence that the tournament would be the most merit-based in the world. But some of the biggest concerns persist around the event’s business model.

With less than a year to go before the tournament, FIFA, which has kept its revenue projections guarded, has started to share some of the details with a broader circle of officials and some of the 32 participating teams. Those include some of Europe’s biggest, like Real Madrid, which have demanded significant eight-figure fees in addition to prize money to appear.

FIFA must balance the needs and demands of those top European teams with competitors from less heralded soccer regions like the Middle East and Africa, ensuring the payouts reflect both the stature of the squads and its promise that the tournament is meritocratic and truly global. About 10% of the tournament’s income must be used for so-called solidarity payments for FIFA’s members and nonparticipating clubs.

The cost pressure from the clubs’ prize money demands is separate from the amount of money needed to stage a world-class, monthlong event in the U.S., which FIFA had initially estimated to be $1.2 billion.

In the most recent updates, officials said they had budgeted for cost savings that would cut the expenditure to between $1 billion and $800 million, leaving a projection of at least $1 billion in net income, money that could be used to pay the participating clubs.

That profit is assuming FIFA hits commercial targets that defy the expectations of most analysts and industry experts.

FIFA has told stakeholders that the Club World Cup will generate $800 million in media rights, and between $1 billion and $1.2 billion in partnership and sponsorship sales, as much as four times estimates.

However, several experts who have either worked with FIFA or bought rights from the organization estimated that the entirety of the competition, including commercial and broadcast rights, was worth more in the range of $500 million to $700 million.

“There is a lack of confidence in the market toward the tournament,” said Simon Thomas, a former chief commercial officer at FIFA who was hired by Infantino. “For a long time, sponsors and broadcasters didn’t believe in the tournament — they were skeptical whether it would happen. Maybe with more time, a marketing plan and visible commitments by the clubs, they would have jumped on board earlier. But there was no such communication. Which makes it hard to go and sell it in a short space of time.”

FIFA was forced to start a late bid to sell the media rights this year after plans for Apple to broadcast the tournament globally failed because the American technology company did not agree with Infantino’s valuation.

“The interest from the market is very strong,” FIFA said in a statement, adding that it expected its sponsorship program for the tournament to be “fully sold out.” It did not comment on media rights sales or its forecasts.

FIFA said club executives “have been extremely supportive of the tour

That characterization appears to be at odds with comments from some of the biggest names in the sport. This past weekend, Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez, complained about the risk of injury for his already overworked players.

“Lack of rest affects players’ careers,” he said, a few hours before star player Vinicius Junior injured his hamstring. “FIFA has created a Club World Cup that will deprive players of their usual rest.”

The pressure is now on Infantino for the tournament to be a success.

“If these numbers aren’t right, there is going to be such significant blowback,” said Chris Lencheski, a founder of SKI Partners, a sports and media advisory firm, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

Perhaps enough, he said, “to bring down careers.”