The possibility of a strike by star footballers in the European leagues seems to be growing in recent days. One of them, the Spanish Rodri, He decided to break his silence and many voices began to support him, including several important coaches. The reason: the overload of the international match calendar.
According to the criteria of
“I think if you ask any footballer, they will tell you the same thing. It is not just Rodri’s opinion. I think it is the opinion of the players and, if this continues, there will come a time when there is no other option. I don’t know what will happen, but it is something that worries us because we are the ones who suffer from it.”said Rodri, a member of the Manchester City and the Spanish national team.
Valid concepts
His manager at City, Josep Guardiola, backed him up. “The complaint from coaches and players is not going to change the calendar this season. It is important to reflect on this, that important bodies like UEFA, La Liga, FIFA and“They are thinking that the players are getting tired,” he said. “At the moment, the objective is to reflect because the calendar this season is not going to change at all. What the players are thinking is to change it in the future of football and that is the right thing to do,” he added.
For several years now, the International Federation of Professional Football Players’ Associations (FIFPRO) had warned about the problem. A couple of weeks ago, they presented a report in which they showed what, for them, it means to exceed a limit that takes away players’ time to rest and puts their health at risk.
“The report, produced in conjunction with Football Benchmark, reveals that 54 per cent of the 1,500 players analysed were facing excessive or high workloads, with a significant number exceeding the limits recommended by medical experts,” Fifpro said in presenting its work. “Almost a third (31 per cent) of players were included in squads for 55 or more matches, while one in six (17 per cent) played more than 55 games. Almost a third (30 per cent) endured sequences of at least six consecutive weeks of back-to-back matches (two or more games per week).
There are two Colombians who are the protagonists in this report. In a table showing the number of matches played, Luis Diaz, Liverpool and Colombian national team star, has 77 caps and 72 matches played, 17 more than the number recommended by medical experts consulted by Fifpro. The leader is the Argentine Julian Alvarez, of Manchester City, with 83 caps and 75 matches.
Another factor analysed was the number of flight hours and kilometres travelled to fulfil all club and national team commitments. Davinson Sancheztoday in the Galatasaray, He is fourth, with 193 hours and 147,539 kilometers. The Argentine Cristian Romero, from Tottenhamwas the first, with 211 hours and 162,978 kilometers.
This study was carried out in the midst of a calendar that, according to a study carried out by the Relevo portal, had not increased significantly in recent years, but had compared to the 1980s. They took as a measure Real Madrid and Barcelona, which, on average, have had to play 4.6 and 4.4 more games per year, respectively.
Additional load
The issue is that, indeed, from this year onwards there is an additional burden, with a ‘remastered’ Champions League, which, only in its first phase, has two more matches for each team, to which must be added the new Club World Cup with 32 participants, in which the champion will have to play seven matches that did not exist before (the old format of the tournament put them directly into the semi-finals).
To this we must add that the next World Cup will go from having 64 games to 108. And on Friday, Fifa announced the return of the Intercontinental Cup, although the representative of Europe will go directly to the final… in Qatar.
In its defence, Fifa claims to have taken into account all opinions, including those of the players’ association and the teams. “The current calendar was unanimously approved by the Fifa Council, which is made up of representatives from all continents, including Europe, following an exhaustive and inclusive consultation, which included Fifpro and league bodies,” the organisation said in a statement, in which it took a shot at the European clubs.
“These leagues apparently prefer a calendar full of friendlies and summer tours, which often involve extensive travel around the world,” insisted FIFA, which also showed a study by the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES), in which they assure that “the average number of matches per club and per season remained stable at just above 40. Only 5 percent of teams play on average more than 60 matches per season.”
Coaches also raised their voices this week. “There comes a point where playing 75 or 80 games is not realistic. The solution is to put a limit on the number of games each player can play. Put a limit and also a mandatory vacation period,” said the coach of the Bayern Munich, Vincent Kompany.
On 14 October, Fifpro and the club association will lodge a complaint against Fifa with the European Union. This fight is only just beginning.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor THE TIME
@josasc
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