The new Club World Cup is already a case. The world footballers union attacks Infantino – Calcio

DOHA- There fifprothe world footballers’ union, has harshly criticized the FIFA president Infantino following the announcement of the new men’s and women’s international match schedule. In a statement, you expressed “surprise at today’s decisions by the FIFA Council regarding the calendars of men’s and women’s international matches, which could have serious consequences on the players’ health”. There Fifaaccording to Fifpro, he would have disregarded a very recent commitment: “Despite the agreement reached by Fifrpo with Fifa last week, which envisaged a joint negotiation of the international match calendar before the Fifa Congress in March 2023, these decisions have been taken unilaterally without seriously consulting the players let alone agreeing with them Surprisingly, the announcement of a new format for the Club World Cup starting in 2025 and a new international match calendar after 2024 and 2023 respectively, including the extension of the current women’s calendar into the 2024-25 season, which will cause severe congestion during the Olympic competition year. This situation further increases the pressure on the fatigue of the players.”

The attack on Infantino is direct: “Once again the decisions to downsize the competitions without implementing adequate safeguards are short-lived and do not take into account the players. This decision demonstrates once again that the main stakeholders of the game are not involved appropriately in football decision-making, including when it concerns the core of their fundamental rights.We expect FIFA to honor the recently agreed negotiating commitment and admit that, despite the announcements, the protections of women and men footballers have been undermined “. Fifpro is calling for dialogue with leagues and clubs: “We have recently entered into negotiations with the Forum of World Leagues on aligning the match calendar with the mandatory health protections for players under our global labor agreement. The standards agreed between employer and employee, which already exist in many national collective bargaining agreements, must be respected and cannot be violated by a unilateral expansion of the competition calendar”.