The main topic in the football world is the overscheduled calendar. The new UEFA Champions and Europa League format is now bigger, with 32 teams and more games in the groups stages (two more per team, plus the knockout stages) and with national leagues and Cup competitions, the pressure on players is never bigger. On top of that, FIFA saw what was going on, and they also wanted their ‘piece of the cake’, so they expanded their Club World Cup, which will be played for 29 days between June and July 2025.UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin weighs in on the busy football schedule debate 👀 pic.twitter.com/JWvCk2Y8li— GiveMeSport (@GiveMeSport) October 12, 2024 Many players are thinking about a strike as one way to emphasize their problems (Rodri, Kounde, Laporte), while others, like Joshua Kimmich admit they like to play more games. And UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin finally addressed the issue. He finally admitted that the football calendar has reached its peak.”We must recognize that the match calendar has reached its maximum capacity. We have reached the limits. For the teams in the most difficulty, there is no room for more matches” said the Slovenian leader, in comments reported by So Foot.Has Rodri started an avalanche? Koundé and Orban support the strikeBut UEFA supremo also took time to take a swipe at those who complain about the increased number of games.“On the other hand, who complains? Those who have the highest salaries and the clubs that have 25 top-level footballers. Those who earn less and have barely eleven players do not complain and love to play” said the UEFA president.Luis Figo: ‘Less games means less money’So far, apart from Kimmich, there is also Nantes coach who is in line with Ceferin about the number of games. He is obviously in that category of teams who earn less.”Imagine, we started the season, we played three matches, then there was the international break. Now we’re off to four games before the next break. We’re just asking to play, we’d like there to be more matches. Here in Nantes, we’re not affected at all. And you look at the French championship, out of the 18 clubs, there are maybe four teams, maybe five that are affected. That is to say players who play in Ligue 1, the Cup, a European competition and who are internationals” said Antoine Kombouaré recently.Kimmich: ‘I like to play a lot of games’Off course, he does understand the players who are under pressure to play more, like Rodri and Kounde.”I saw the internationals Rodri and Koundé talk about it, and for them, yes, the workload is much more complicated. What is certain is that there are far too many competitions. We have only just started the season, the players who are affected by this crazy schedule are already complaining. At the end of the season, between June and July, they will also be playing in the Club World Cup, it’s too much”, said Kombouaré who also ironically called Rodri to come and play for Nantes, in order to play less games.##NAJAVA_MECA_8419230##
