Over the last few years fans of European football, who would have actually been largely club neutral here, would have been intrigued by the power plays that have developed between FIFA, UEFA and then domestic country Football Associations.
It is not so much about the revenue share and profit grabs that are currently taking place with expanding international and European competitions, but it concerns the issues surrounding player welfare, protecting domestic competitions and in many ways protecting the sanctity of the ‘beautiful game’ from those who are only interested in the Dollars to be made when they actually never grace the pitch.
The battle had long been bubbling under the surface and the English leagues are a prime example where domestic Cup competitions have long played second fiddle to the growing riches of Europe, with clubs given byes through to latter rounds and even then top flight teams began seriously playing weaker teams to rest players and for fans who buy a VPN online for better security and privacy when they stream matches, they obviously want to see the best players on show. Managers moaning about the fixture calendar has become almost a weekly event in the media, and with player Unions becoming involved the issue has spiralled further and some well known players have even hinted that strikes could be on the cards in the future.
With the recent Club World Cup bringing the issue front and centre with Gianni Infantino proclaiming player welfare deals had been struck without FifPro even being invited to the meetings, Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, was recently forced into confirming that the English top flight would not be reducing in size as a means of reducing player commitments.
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We have seen such a move previously, France’s Ligue 1 had already announced their decision to reduce from 20 teams to 18 for the 2023/24 campaign onwards to reduce the strain on players, and it has been expected that other domestic associations would follow suit, but it seems that England have now drawn the line on that happening given that FA Cup replays have already been scrapped, and the Third Round of the League Cup will now be played over two midweeks in September.
Masters welcomed the continued growth of the game at all levels, but stated that they would not be ‘forced’ into making such a move as the wider growth of the game should not come at the expense of ‘domestic football’ and whilst fans in England will disagree with Masters on many topics, he will find a groundswell of support for that particular statement.
FIFA and UEFA have ultimately made a rod for their own back here as they chase even greater revenues for themselves, but it is not unfair to say that clubs and players have to shoulder some of the blame. In the search for their own financial rewards they have helped drive the need to grow revenues, build bigger squads to cope with the calendar, so it is a little bit trite for managers (who do not rotate their squads, or take full advantage of the growing number of substitutes allowed) to then moan that players are taking part in too many games and are not getting appropriate time off.
Managing those issues better within a club and then not jetting off for lucrative friendlies at the drop of every hat would not change the main thrust of their arguments, but it would certainly improve their position on a hypocrisy front.
