Complaints and strike threats becoming more and more significant: the year 2024 was marked by the offensive of the best footballers on the planet and their representatives in the face of the infernal pace of the international calendar.
Directly targeted, Fifa is guilty in their eyes of favoring the economic benefits generated by the multiplication of matches to the detriment of their health.
Despite himself being the symbol of this revolt, Rodri, the Manchester City midfielder who had just won the title of European champion with Spain, set foot in the challenge in September.
Questioned before a Champions League match – whose new formula put in place this year provides for eight matches instead of six previously before the direct elimination phase – on the hypothesis of a strike movement by players in the face of the increase in the number of matches, the future Ballon d’Or 2024 had blown: “yes, I think we’re close.”
A few days after his shock declaration, Rodri seriously injured his knee, giving him even greater weight to take his stand, while the international calendar became even heavier with the holding of the Club World Cup. FIFA from June 15 to July 13, 2025 in the United States.
During the 2023-2024 season, Rodri played around sixty matches, club and national team combined, and could potentially play around ten more by combining all the competitions that he is likely to play during the seasons that had arrived.
Echo
Several other leading players, such as the Dutch defender Virgil Van Dijk or the French Aurélien Tchouaméni and Dayot Upamecano, living more or less the same pace, went in the same direction as the Spanish midfielder, giving the debate on the infernal pace a echo never seen before.
First behind the players and their idea of a strike, Fifpro, the international federation of footballers’ unions, wanted to be more pragmatic.
She launched two complaints against the International Federation: one in June, on the unilateral establishment of the calendar of international matches and the decision to create a Club World Cup, the other in October before the European Commission on the right to competition, the various European leagues believing that the multiplication of international competitions was harming the attractiveness of national championships.
Supporting medical reports, she puts forward other recommendations: “a minimum of three weeks of total vacation”, said David Terrier, president of the European branch of the union. “No more than five matches played every three days, without a real break and less than 55 matches played per season”he continues.
Performance drop
“Beyond these figures, in addition to the health of the players, we see a decline in performance and therefore in the quality of the product. It is therefore a starting point for discussing together so that football remains a beautiful spectacle. the leader, also president of the French players’ union (UNFP), told AFP.
For the moment, however, the dialogue is broken between Fifpro and Fifa, which defends itself by regularly reminding that it is only responsible for a very small part of club meetings and that it is only fulfilling its having to find new sources of income for the federations.
Inflexible on the holding of its competitions, the international body still wants to show that it hears the discontent of the players. In October, she set up a working group, led by Arsène Wenger, responsible for reflecting on and making recommendations on the well-being of players.
A working group in which Fifpro will not participate. “We are already discussing with UEFA which is an emanation of Fifa”David Terrier justifies himself. “We do not want to discuss with Fifa in this format, but we do not want war, we want to find solutions,” he insists.
“These rates are destroying the goose that lays the golden eggs that is football. On the contrary, we wish to protect the very basis of what makes it strong: the show and the players,” he concludes.
