The footballers are starting to say enough is enough. The tight calendar, with more and more competitions and more matches, threatens the physical condition of the players and many have already suffered its consequences with serious injuries, as is the case of Ter Stegen or Rodrigo. Others already feel the fear of falling too.
The first to raise his voice in this new wave of complaints was Rodrigo Hernandez. the first to talk about a strike. The midfielder of Manchester City publicly criticized the overload of matches: “This year we are going to reach 70, maybe 80, it depends on how far we go in the competitions. I think it’s too much“. Days later, he was the one who suffered the terrible consequences: a rupture in the cruciate ligament in his right knee.
More players joined his words, including Carvajal and Koundéin addition to Javier Tebaspresident of LaLiga. And they are not alone. Their complaints – or rather pleas – They are supported by the main football players unionsthe AFE (Association of Spanish Footballers) and FIFPRO (International Federation of Professional Footballers’ Associations).
“The competition calendar is the same, but it is increasing with the increase in matches and travel, which affects rest“he explains to 20 minutes the general secretary of AFE, Diego Rivas.
From the aforementioned union they consider that periods such as the FIFA windows, in which there are footballers who “have to travel more than 10,000 kilometers to play with their teams and return two or three days later with their team”, prevent the protagonists of the sport king “compete in the best conditions”which results in injuries.
The indignation is maximum and from the AFE they denounce that “FIFA has introduced a new competition (the Club World Cup) and UEFA has changed the format of the Champions League without including the footballer“. And this detail is the straw that broke the camel’s back.
This considerable increase in matches and competitions means that now a player from top-level teams such as Real Madrid and FC Barcelona can play more than 70 games in a single seasona figure that was not reached before due to the absence of, for example, the new Club World Cup, which includes another seven matches that the players of the team that reaches the final did not previously have.
“What footballers mainly ask for is that are present in any type of negotiationwhether from FIFA or UEF. They are the protagonists and their point of view is not being taken into consideration,” says Rivas.
For footballers, supported by the unions, it is essential to “reach a middle point between all the elements and all the factors” so that “this ecosystem continues to be maintained, that it continues to be sustainablebut not at the expense of the players’ health.”
The strike, “the last resort”
In their fight to achieve this, the idea of ​​a strike that paralyzes football appears. However, Rivas confirms that there is still a long way to go: “Setting a date is very complicated. From experience here in the Spanish League we know that the last resort is a strike and there are intermediate steps such as negotiation and dialogue that we must exhaust.”
For now, the process has only begun, but it goes beyond the complaints of the footballers. The raised voice of stars like Rodri or Carvajal is beginning to bear fruit, although there is still a long way to go to go.
“We are talking to different actors to try to set up meetings and reach consensus. It is complicated because there are many elements and factors with a lot of totally different legislation. We have to see it and analyze it to see what steps to take,” explains the AFE secretary.
Meanwhile, from the union they speak loud and clear for the well-being of the players, in this case of LaLiga, with a single objective: “What we are not going to negotiate with is the health of the footballers. “We have to protect it at all times as we have been doing in domestic competitions.”
Injuries, the punishment of the calendar
The increase in matches and new competitions causes footballers to have inadequate rest timea fact not at all insignificant. More and more players, overloaded, are forced to stop due to injuries.
In recent weeks, Ter Stegen, Rodrigo Hernández and Kylian Mbappéstars on their teams, have gone to the infirmary. The first two with serious knee injuries that leave them without the rest of the season, while the Real Madrid forward will be out for approximately three weeks due to muscle problems.
The requirement of the calendar has done its thing in these cases. “The large number of parties, the few recovery times between each other, as well as the long tripsare influencing these types of injuries,” he explains to 20 minutes Dr. Sergio Bartolomé GarcÃa, traumatologist specializing in Sports Medicine at the Ruber Internacional Hospital in Madrid.
To remedy this problem that threatens current football, Dr. Pablo de la Cuadra Virgili, Bartolomé’s partner, assures: “They should reduce the load of matches, reduce travel, have a good dietas well as physical preparation aimed at stretching more than muscle strengthening.
