Do you play too much? Yes, second Umberto Calcagno. The president of the AIC (Italian Footballers’ Association) addressed the topic during an interview given to The Press: “We are waiting for what could become a step in the desired direction: the judges are called to express their opinion on FIFA and on the calendar which also focuses on the new Club World Cup from mid-June. The football seasons no longer exist, there is no not even space for a few days off. The balance must be found in the 45-50 matches per season, we are even reaching above 80 for those who live in the championship, cups and national team while waiting for the new things to come. It is scientifically proven that if you play four matches without a five-day break between each other the risk of getting hurt increases exponentially.”
The AIC – which in simple terms is the Italian trade union – is in the front row in this battle and the president continues his story: “On Tuesday we will be in Brussels, a meeting to forcefully reaffirm that we need to reverse course. The championships must be protected, quality must be protected: what sense can there be in increasing matches to increase revenue if the product doesn’t gain in appeal? An example: we will all remember for a long time what happened in the extra time of the Argentina-France final in Qatar, but those extra time would not have had the same beauty in June or July after an exhausting year three matches of the next championship for Juve and Inter because of the Club World Cup. I ask myself: where are the dates and, above all, what sense would it have had?