Why the fuck are they tiptoeing around it?
It’s been like fourth interview about it.
A - YOU ARE SAYIN SOMETHING ABOUT IT
B - Footballers show how they are really not the brightest.
They really are privileged type of a worker, which has both time and money to organize biblical proportions of a union, but they don’t for some reason.
Any real threat of a strike from such union and players, clubs and football organizations would shit their pants.
But they are just plain stupid with really weak ass union and just do PR stuff about it.
It’s like that Mendy/Vini/Mephis case, when they are rather sniff their own farts and pat themselves on their back and do nothing about it.
“If they die, they die” - FIFA
WC is adding one more game only
I’m not saying even the highest level. It’s more rare to see an elite athlete retired at 32 though. What other players have retired that young that isn’t injury forced? 32 isn’t that old
If clubs and leagues wont do anything about it I think the next step is players will start putting a 50 game limit into contract negotiations
Multinational player’s union perhaps?
I believe so and I know they’ve done things to benefit players in the past but this particular problem hasn’t been addressed iirc.
UEFA and FIFA only care about money, but they are completely devaluing their product. Euros or WC meant something more special 20 years ago and brands paid accordingly. Now you have basically a summer tournament every year. 60 plus games between teams and NT and you are looking a squad rotation that makes some games be like NBA games in January where players are coasting. Don’t see how this is a good business model other than for a quick profit for those in charge.
Legitimately curious, is there a footballers union? Do they have any actual recourse into forcing leagues and/or FA’s to lessen the games being forced upon them?
England has the PFA but I would imagine other leagues have similar players unions. How well they all operate and how effective they are is a different matter
Lots of these lads won’t have a career by the time they are 30, not only the modern game is much more demanding but the amount of matches is absurd. Good luck going against it tho, money speaks.
How many more?
Cos it doesn’t seem like there is in general.
The CL adds games next year and the Euros might have added a game too. I guess the CWC but that’s not gonna be many games (would have been 2 in a year and now it will be every 4) and for a limited number of teams.
Where are you getting extra games from?
They should but they also want more and more money. And to generate the income there are more and more matches. You can’t get both
The FIFPRO report is a very well research report I highly recommend!
2023 FIFPRO Extreme Calendar Congestion: Adverse Effects on Player Health & Wellbeing Report
Key findings/takeaways:
- While the risks of injury and deteriorating performance are widely known, the report also illustrates dangers to career longevity, mental health, and personal lives.
- Today’s elite young players like Vinicius Jr have played up to double previous generation.
- Football stakeholders have disregarded health safeguards in favour of competition expansion to generate more revenue. eg expanded Club World Cup & Champions League, which could increase number of games by 11% for top players.
- FIFPRO seeks mandatory season breaks, limit on back-to-back games to protect players, and the minimisation of international travel.
The clubs & fans are negatively impacted also:
- The report also analyses the cost of injuries to clubs, broadcasters, and fans because of the large number of players missing matches in the ‘big five’ leagues this {22/23} season.
Minutes for current U25 vs previous generations:
- Vinicius Jr has at age 22 already played 18,876 minutes club and national team football, more than twice as much as former Brazil playmaker Ronaldinho at the same age.
- Spain’s Pedri had at the age of 20 played more than 12,000 minutes, 25 percent more minutes than Xavi at the same age.
- France’s Kylian Mbappe has at age 24 played 26,952 minutes, 48 percent more minutes than Thierry Henry at the same age.
- Jude Bellingham will have played more than 30 percent more minutes of competitive football by his 20th birthday later this month than Wayne Rooney, at the same age.
adding - I hope more players better leverage FIFPRO data/services to organize, speak & act on the player welfare challenges.
I agree to a point. This is only really a problem for the absolute top players. There’s maybe 20-30 eredivisie players who always start, play in Europe and start for their country. The other 400-500 players or so could probably care less, their load is fine. Figures may be different in the PL or La Liga but it’s still going to be a problem for a small percentage. So it will be difficult to get everyone to agree to this.
International players union!
I mean, youre a player dog. Do and say something.