More games and more money. The greed of international football organizations threatens the health of the players, writes Urheilu’s Jussi Vainikka.
Jussi Vainikka sports reporter
Do you know what is the Intercontinental Cup organized by the International Football Federation Fifa that started on Sunday?
I didn’t know either until this weekend, even though I follow football for work.
Of course, a similar tournament has been played for years under the name of the WC tournament for club teams, but I assumed it ended up in the trash.
Fifa’s plans for an expanded World Cup tournament for club teams will be realized next summer, when 32 club teams from around the world will gather in the United States to play a tournament that will “climax” the international soccer season.
The tournament of the old format is still being continued under the new name of the Intercontinental Cup. The new, wider World Cup tournament format will in the future fill the void in the summers when there are no World Cups or continental championship tournaments such as the European Championships.
A void that has previously enabled the world’s best players to have even a slightly longer summer vacation than the summer of value competitions.
More games, more money. There is no doubt about the purpose of Fifa. Women will have a similar World Cup tournament in the summer of 2026.
The European football association Uefa has also wanted and received more games and money. The new format of the Champions League brings two to four additional matches to the teams that qualify for the competition compared to the previous one.
On the other hand, domestic matches have been further increased with playoffs promoted to the Nations League. The women’s EC qualifiers were played last summer in July, in the middle of the players’ holiday season.
The player gauge is starting to fill up. The game numbers are insane. Probably Manchester City and Spain will be awarded the best in the world this year Rodri flashed a week that the players are close to going on strike.
There are simply too many games, which is already threatening the health of the players. In the case of Manchester City, the number of games in the current season can reach up to 85 for a single player, including home matches.
Like Rodri, Liverpool’s goalkeeper gave criticism to the decision-makers in connection with the opening round of the Champions League Alisson. “No one asks the players,” he said According to the Guardian and pointed out that players are no longer able to consistently play at the highest level because they are too tired.
Playing when tired naturally also increases the risk of injury. The risk of ACL or anterior cruciate ligament injuries increases especially in women. Fifpro, the players’ umbrella organization according to the study increased number of matches and strain correlated with ACL injuries in women’s top leagues.
Fifpro took legal action against Fifa in the summer. The lawsuit calls into question the new match calendar for international football and, above all, the new, giant World Cup tournament for club teams. According to Fifpro, the match calendar violates EU competition legislation.
This is where we get back to the mystical to the Intercontinental Cup. It’s about a filler tournament and hoarding extra profits. The excitement was certainly running high when Al-Ain from the United Arab Emirates faced Auckland City from New Zealand in Sunday’s opening match.
Everything “culminates” in December, when the reigning winner of the Champions League, Real Madrid, has to play the final of the tournament before Christmas.
In other words, the champions of other continents play in a playoff format for the right to face Real Madrid – and the winner of this tournament is no longer even crowned world champion.
Interesting? No. Necessary? Not really.
The tournament does not significantly increase the number of matches played by the teams, but it highlights the stupidity of the match calendar created by Fifa. Tellingly, the venue for the semi-finals and final was confirmed on Friday – just two days before the start of this tournament’s farce. The selection of Qatar as the venue hardly surprises anyone.
Why should such a tournament be played? Of course, Fifa is proud to say that it has added more matches to the calendar “important matches”but in the Real Madrid dressing room, the date December 18 is hardly circled in red pen.
In fact, all the teams of the Intercontinental Cup are not even decided yet, even though the tournament has already started. The champion of South America and thus also the representative of the Intercontinental Cup is still undecided for this year.
Question marks also hang over next summer’s giant WC tournament. From game locations, training centers, sponsors or TV companies showing games there is still no information.
The only thing that is certain is that you will see tired and probably also frustrated players on the grass around the United States.