Professional football is on the verge of collapse due to its overloaded sports calendar. A widespread opinion among all professionals in this sport who agree that the situation, as it stands, is not good for the football players themselves. There are more and more competitions and those that exist a little longer than before.
An attitude that affects everyone
Perhaps that’s why the letter Rhodri’s potential blow has caught Bosu. The organizations that govern football competitions do not want to stop, and far from negotiating with clubs and football players, They continue their efforts to increase the number of matches played by football players annually. Injuries like that Ter Stegen OG Carvajal They are not casual but wear and tear that the players themselves denounce. With the European leagues, FIFA was denounced to the European Commission To abuse his dominant position, the CEO of the Professional Footballers ‘ Association of England and Wales, as well as the former CEO of Mallorca, Mahita Mulango, And I’m talking in Cup game About this topic.
“In June we took the first step, filing a lawsuit in a Belgian court. The second step is with the leagues, with which we have signed a coalition to realize competitions. It’s a problem that affects football in general. In England, even fans are aware that quality suffers“, He begins by describing how he sees the current situation. A letter in which he admits that this drift can affect the most modest clubs: “when you play a lot of matches, outstanding football players but also sports suffer. The decision of FIFA and the European Union ended up affecting the most modest teams in national competitions. Real Madrid or Manchester City can reach 75-80 matches, in addition to the accumulation of previous seasons”.
The three petitions
Mahita Mulango I took advantage of the interview to clarify the three requests that the Federation puts forward to try to improve the situation and get rid of tension between clubs and players with the institutions that govern football. A few of the requests he mentioned are as follows:
- Mandatory summer vacation , no tours or competitions.
- The maximum number of matches in a row.
- The maximum number of matches, about 60 per year.”
The CEO also commented that since the national competitions”They haven’t moved for 20 years and they are the basis of the footballers ‘ salary.” The ones that need to be adjusted and that have been changed in recent years are international competitions: “what has been expanded is what needs to be removed, which are international competitions. We are open to sitting down and talking, but today we are not at the table and that is what we claim. What we are asking for is that the main representatives of football, namely the players who have a place at the table and can talk about it, can claim it. The problem is the imposition of third parties in the end that do not take into account sports stars”.
What has expanded is what needs to be removed are international competitions
New Club World Cup and under-18 league
One of the main reasons that was the straw that broke the camel’s back was the Club World Cup in 2025. A competition with a new format that adds matches and weeks of competition to a busy schedule: “we’ll have to see what happens in the coming months. There is an application filed. The problem is the money promised to the clubs. What can happen is that when you go to the World Cup of the national team, the whole team goes, it does not affect the league ; but Teams that arrive far away can arrive with problems in October that are at risk of income if they perform poorly in the league or Champions League”.
That is why it is such a real threat to the European Championships that they can even be forced to reduce the number of teams in their competitions by mixing The option to have 18 teams. A possible decision that, according to Mulango, would be very negative for the smaller teams: “it has not been mixed but this could be the next measure of pressure. There is a struggle for money and available dates. When one date is removed, it is occupied by another. We believe that it is FIFA that should set the rules so that this does not happen. When creating a new competition, one part of the income is taken to another and in the end those who suffer are the most modest tournaments”.
A situation in which, since letters on this issue are not taken, it could end up with that blow that Rhodri was talking about at a press conference and which was repeated by other footballers. An option that Mahita also talked about: “It is a concern in England that affects everyone, some because they play a lot and others because if 18 teams are pressed, the most affected will be the most humble”.
