SUMMARY
- According to reports, professional soccer players are thinking about filing a lawsuit because their schedules are getting busier.
- However, fans on social media did not take this news in support of the soccer players in terms of the salaries that they are getting paid.
Professional soccer players love to play the sport for their respective clubs and countries with passion and determination, and most importantly, with a will to win. However, recently, with the increasing number of matches and competitions being contested by the soccer regulatory bodies, players seem to be unhappy with concerns over their fitness and mental well-being.
According to reports, professional soccer players are thinking about filing a lawsuit because their schedules are getting busier. Male soccer players are worried about the increased physical demands of bigger competitions like the World Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
🚨 BREAKING: Football players are threatening legal action over the increasing match demands placed on their bodies with new and expanding competitions, per Sky News ⚖️ pic.twitter.com/oYJwgZr2mi
— Pubity Sport (@pubitysport) December 29, 2023
However, fans on social media did not take this news in support of the soccer players in terms of the salaries that they are getting paid. One fan wrote on X, “Bunch of Cry Babies,” regarding the news of the PFA threatening to sue the FIFA and UEFA regulatory soccer bodies.
bunch of cry babiesss!!
— K (@unitedfanboy8) December 30, 2023
Maheta Molango, CEO of the PFA, told Sky News, “I feel like we’ve reached a stage where people are ready to take legal action, where people are ready to take tangible action on the pitch to try to resolve it because it’s a sad state of affairs”.
He added further, “I think it’s a defeat for football when the players need to take the justice in their own hands because they don’t feel protected”.
Moreover, preparations for a redesigned 32-team Club World Cup will simply clog up the already full schedule, providing little time for relaxation and recuperation. The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has threatened to sue FIFA since the organization has not been granted its demand for an obligatory 28-day off-season break.
Raphael Varane had voiced his concerns over player fitness earlier in 2023-24 season
Raphael Varane, a defender for Manchester United, claims that players’ opinions regarding the “dangerous” strain demands imposed on elite players are not being addressed. The 30-year-old voiced his worries about the English Premier League’s new policy regarding extended time for player fitness.
This 2023-24 season, English referees will implement a strict policy regarding extra time, similar to that of the 2022 World Cup. This means that time will be stopped for goal celebrations, video assistant reviews, substitutions, and injuries. As a result, games will frequently last longer than 100 minutes, adding to the already taxing workload for players.
We had a meeting last week with the FA. They recommended from the referees new decisions and rules.
From the managers and players, we have shared our concerns for many years now that there are too many games, the schedule is overcrowded, and it’s at a dangerous level for…
— Raphaël Varane (@raphaelvarane) August 7, 2023
“We had a meeting last week with the FA. They recommended from the referees new decisions and rules,” Varane said in a social media post on August 7th. “From the managers and players, we have shared our concerns for many years now that there are too many games, the schedule is overcrowded, and it’s at a dangerous level for players physical and mental well-being,” Varane added.
Varane was a member of the Manchester United team that participated in 62 competitive games during the previous season. After a grueling World Cup in the middle of the season, the Frenchman announced the end of his international career in 2023. It remains to be seen what and how players and clubs come up with a solution regarding the fitness of their players.