Trending 
Prominent football players are hesitant to voice their concerns about the excessive number of matches, fearing the repercussions it may have on their careers, according to the general secretary of the global players’ union FIFPro on Friday.
Alex Phillips made his comments following a FIFPro meeting in Amsterdam, which involved 58 national player unions from around the world to address concerns regarding FIFA’s management of international football.
This meeting took place less than two weeks after the conclusion of the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup in the United States, which FIFA President Gianni Infantino praised as a major success, but FIFPro criticised for the strain it has placed on players who are already navigating a busy schedule.
“Before the Club World Cup, I was speaking to some of the top stars and they were saying they hadn’t had a rest for ‘X’ amount of time,” Phillips said.
“One of them even said, ‘I’ll only get a rest when I get injured’. Others were resigned and cynical about speaking up.
“Then you see some of the same players two weeks later having to record social media videos saying ‘We think the Club World Cup is great,’ because their employers are telling them to do it.
FIFA’s recent emphasis on the Club World Cup in the United States exemplifies the organisation’s disregard for several more critical issues affecting players globally.
Last year, FIFPro Europe complained to the European Commission, alleging that FIFA misuses its authority concerning the organisation of the international match calendar. The summit, organised by the union, took place on Friday after it was excluded from a gathering held by FIFA just before the recent Club World Cup final.
Sergio Marchi, the president of FIFPro from Argentina, criticised Infantino’s governance of FIFA in an interview with The Athletic this week, referring to it as an “autocracy.”
In response, FIFA stated on Friday that it was confronting FIFPro and urged discussions with legitimate bodies that prioritise player welfare, remarking that it had made unsuccessful attempts to include the union in its meeting in New York on July 12.
