​World Club T20: ICC’s reported plans for T20 franchise tournament and FTP challenges detailed originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.KEY TAKEAWAYS:ICC plans a Club T20 tournament, a sort of revival of the failed Champions League concept.Finding calendar space remains the biggest hurdle for the proposed event.Bilateral white-ball series set to shrink, replaced by regional quadrangular tournaments in the next FTP.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementICC gathered in Edinburgh last week for its annual conference, and plans for a tournament bringing together the strongest franchise sides from T20 leagues around the world appear to be gathering real momentum.According to BBC Sport, the competition could realistically launch within the next couple of years, provided a suitable window can be carved out of an already crowded international calendar.A meeting involving franchise executives from across the globe is scheduled later this year, which could offer clearer direction on how the concept might eventually take shape.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMuch like how football’s governing body, FIFA, operates its own Club World Cup, the ICC appears keen to establish a similar model, tapping into the growing commercial value of franchise cricket worldwide.MORE: Inside England’s reported nine-man shortlist for Test coach role: The favourite, dark horse and outsidersVirat Kohli RCB IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 05262026BCCI/CreimasThe ICC’s Future Tours Programme remains locked in place until next year, with major events including World Cups, the World Test Championship, and marquee series involving England, India and Australia already scheduled all the way through to 2031.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis means any significant structural changes to accommodate a new global club event would likely have to wait until that cycle concludes.A follow-up meeting has been pencilled in for August, where officials will attempt to finalise the remaining portions of the international calendar, followed by a final review in September.Beyond the club tournament discussions, it also looks increasingly likely that the number of traditional bilateral white-ball series will decrease once the next FTP cycle begins.In their place, the ICC appears to be favouring smaller regional quadrangular tournaments, likely featuring two teams drawn from each full member cricketing region. It will be a shift that could fundamentally alter how international white-ball cricket is structured in the years ahead.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMORE: MI captain for IPL 2027: Bumrah and Tilak emerge as contendersRohit Sharma MI 05042026BCCI/CreimasIn many ways, this proposed World Club Championship would mark the return of the ill-fated Champions League T20. It was a tournament which was jointly run by the cricket boards of India, Australia and South Africa between 2009 and 2014.That earlier venture folded after just six seas