The clamour for football governing bodies to buck the trend of congested football schedules is getting louder with Kevin De Bruyne now lending his voice to the calls.
The Manchester City midfielder lashed out at the Federation of International Football, FIFA, and the Union of European Football Association, UEFA, for prioritizing money over the welfare of footballers.
Speaking in an interview with Reuters, the 31-year-old expressed his concern over the football governing body’s moves to force footballers to play more fixtures than necessary.
According to him, both UEFA and FIFA have stooped so low to consider monetary rewards and financial emoluments against players’ welfare.
Specifically, De Bruyne stated that the recent moves by UEFA and FIFA to pile up fixtures are purely aimed at increasing the revenue streams of the organizations although it will be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the players.
According to him, the impact of a congested football calendar on the players cannot be overemphasized but the football authorities have turned a blind eye to calls for a reform. The Belgium international particularly pointed accusing fingers at FIFA for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
FIFA clashed with domestic FAs over 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
Recall FIFA defied incessant calls by domestic football FAs in Europe to halt its plan for the expanded FIFA Club World Cup tournament which is set to kick off in June 2025 in the United States. The new format of the competition will feature 32 clubs from all around the world and will be played over three weeks.
De Bruyne pointed out that the scheduling of the FIFA Club World Cup will strain the players, who will be compelled to resume action across major leagues in Europe barely a month after the tournament. He particularly mentioned the 2025-26 Premier League which will resume three weeks after the competition.
“The real problem will emerge after the Club World Cup…We know there will be only three weeks between the Club World Cup final and the first Premier League match. So, we have three weeks to rest and prepare for another 80 matches,” De Bruyne said.
De Bruyne also slammed UEFA for its new model for European club competitions. The Belgian insisted UEFA had not helped the situation, by adding more matches to the competitions.
“The issue is that UEFA and FIFA keep adding extra matches, and we can raise concerns, but no solutions have been found. It seems that money speaks louder than the players’ voices,” De Bruyne added.
Unlike the old format of UEFA club competitions, the new format will see teams play more matches in all three competitions than before.
This will be coming amidst domestic league matches, FIFA World Cup qualifiers, continental football championships, and several other tournaments.
FIFPRO clashes with FIFA over 32-team World Cup
Amidst the wrangles and controversies over the crammed football schedules, the International Federation of Professional Footballers, FIFPRO, have reportedly taken legal action against the 32-team FIFA Club World Cup tournament.
How this will impact the competition has yet to be deciphered. However, it is understood preparation for the tournament is in top gear with clubs ready to participate. FIFA’s position in the summering faceoff has been that domestic FAs are taking the lion’s share in football activities.
They have reportedly asked mostly European FA’s to reduce their 20-league teams and also cut down other domestic competitions for football clubs.
