Rodri Hernandezone of the best footballers in the world, has expressed a demand that is gaining more and more strength in the locker rooms of football teams. “We are about to strike”said the Manchester City player, one of the captains of the Spanish team. The reason is clear: footballers are exposed to a long and busy schedulelots of games, and at some point they will have to stop.
Ahead of Manchester City’s first game in the new Champions League, Rodri has spoken out against the way competition owners – in this case UEFA – are crushing footballers. “From my experience, I can say that playing 60 or 70 games This is not optimal. A player can be able to be at the highest level if he plays between 40 and 50 matches, then performance will drop“, commented the Spanish midfielder.
Players’ anger is serious and Rodri Hernandez has openly spoken about going on strike in the future. “I think that we are about to get there“, he replied when asked by a journalist what the footballers could do to end this busy schedule and whether one of those measures would be a strike.
According to the Madrid midfielder, recent European champion with Spain, on strike “This is a widely held opinion among players” and if everything continues like this, “we will have no choice.” This represents a revolution in football and the first threat from footballers to paralyze the entire sport. The stars of the show are fed up.
This weariness of footballers is motivated by the increase each year in the number of matches in the calendar, whether for clubs or national teams. This Tuesday (Manchester City starts on Wednesday) The new Champions League beginswhich brings a format in which two more games are played than so far. And some teams will even have to play four more games to reach the round of 16 than in recent seasons.
Rodri Hernandez threatens to strike
“Someone has to care about us because we are the protagonists of this sport, this business or whatever you want to call it. It can’t all be money and marketing, what matters is the quality of the show” added Rodri Hernandez, an authoritative voice in the world of football. The City midfielder is not the first to criticize the schedule that UEFA or FIFA have imposed on them, but he is the first to openly talk about going on strike.
A few weeks ago, as the European Super Cup approached, Daniel Carvajal -who, like Rodri, is one of the captains of the European champion team- has already expressed anger with the calendar. “It makes no sense. We are unable to maintain the level“We cannot play 72 games. The competent bodies must analyse this. The games are dropping in level and we and our families are suffering,” Carvajal said.
The Real Madrid full-back, like Rodri Hernández and so many other footballers, is subjected to an enormous load of matches that, far from being relegated, increases every year. The Eurocup ended on July 14th and a month later the first national and international titles were already being played. And once the season has started, the matches continue without interruption, with new tournaments (see the Club World Cup that will be played next June) or with more matches in existing tournaments, as is the case with the new Champions League that begins this Tuesday.
