FIFPro, the World Players Association, deplores the lack of a global view of the authorities

FIFPro, which recently called for proper negotiations, regrets that ‘No global vision’ On Monday, its general secretary, Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, said football bodies on calendar reform, in particular the idea of ​​holding the World Cup every two years, criticized the discussions. ‘Driven by commercial interests’.

Speaking via video on the sidelines of Tuesday’s presentation of a report on the infernal rates of professional players, the leader called for “Reasonable and effective repair” To reduce the burden on football players, a source of increased risk of injury. There is an absolute lack of global vision and leadership on the part of most organizations Jonas Baer-Hoffmann said, while FIFA has begun a process of consultations on doubling the pace of its first competition from 2028, a proposal notably rejected by UEFA.

“The proposals, whether good, bad or terrible for football, do not give rise to much controversy or deliberation, since everything is in line with the commercial interests of the various competitions,” He completed. It really undermines our chances of achieving reasonable and effective reform. We really like to try to distinguish between calendar debate and competitions, which are very different. “

Not against condensation from international windows

The debate over the international calendar and the biennial World Cup has been revived in recent weeks by former coach Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s Director of Development. The latter recommends a selection competition each year, alternating between global and continental competitions, with qualifications pooled together in October alone, or in October and March. A full report must be published by FIFA in November, before a “world summit” end of the year. For his part, Jonas Baer-Hoffmann was open to the idea “condensed windows” internationally to reduce travel and thus player fatigue.

Hell rates increasingly for players

“We still have to look at and analyze this, but reducing the number of windows would be a positive thing.” He argues. However, the Secretary General of FIFPro warns of a biennial World Cup which will see the same major nations qualify each time, without other parallel competitions to allow for “small countries” for self development. The report published by FIFPro on Tuesday, which was compiled by KPMG on a sample of 265 players, showed an increase in the number of matches being played every three or four days: the most exposed players, that is, international players who play in the biggest clubs. , they played an average of 67% of their annual playing time in 2020-2021, with less than five rest days between two appearances, this report indicates.