Competitions to scrap or change to reduce footballers’ workload

Footballers worldwide are complaining about their workload, and some have even threatened to go on strike.

The dream of many youngsters is to become football players, and in continents like the Americas and Africa, this dream is born out of a desire to make a good living.

Youngsters develop themselves and sometimes are content with moving to countries where they would not even earn much money just to make a living.

In their quest for this, they are subjected to tough footballing schedules that seem to continue to get hectic every year.

Interestingly, players who have not made it to the big leagues and are not popular usually do not have problems with hectic schedules.

However, those who have done well and have enjoyed a measure of success are asking for more time off.

The top clubs play a lot of games, especially when they have won other trophies that trigger their participation in more competitions.

The international break is another part of a player’s life which is problematic and probably has to be scrapped.

At the moment, clubs can hardly stop their fit players from representing their countries, but that should be an option because it makes no sense for the players to be forced to play too many games.

In this article, we consider some of the competitions that need to be scrapped or changed to reduce the games players have to play.

Carabao Cup

Scrapping the Carabao Cup would be very unpopular with the smaller clubs in England, especially those below the top flight.

Cup competitions are very interesting, and the Carabao Cup sometimes brings magic to life as England's second most important domestic cup.

The Premier League clubs are often paired with clubs from the lower division in the draws, and this is one reason why Carabao Cup tickets sell fast.

Because of their fixture schedule, the top clubs use the Carabao Cup as a breeding ground for their younger players.

For this purpose, it is an important competition, however, considering that it affects the players and adds more matches to their schedule, especially when the teams reach the advanced stage of the tournament, it should be scrapped.

Community Shield

The Community Shield is England’s Super Cup, which brings together the two most successful clubs in the country in the previous campaign to open the curtain for the new term.

In England, this fixture is a big deal, depending on who you ask, because the clubs can test themselves ahead of the new season.

However, it adds one more fixture to the number of games the players have to compete in. Although it would be sad for fans who love to buy Community Shield tickets to see the competition scrapped, it could save their favourite players from injury.

Multi-fixture Super Cups

In the last few seasons, more leagues have revamped their Super Cup, changing it to a four-team tournament from being a single fixture between the top two clubs in domestic competitions.

The La Liga Super Cup now has four teams and is usually played outside of Europe from the semi-final stage.

Italy’s Serie A has followed the same format. The first and second teams on the league table, as well as the winner and runner-up of the Coppa Italia, compete for the crown.

The Italians have played their Super Cup in Saudi Arabia over the last few years. This means not only are the teams playing more fixtures, but they also have to travel far during a campaign.

These are the factors which affect the health of the different players and cause them to break down, so those competitions whose Super Cup have been expanded must consider scrapping that style.

If the players’ welfare is important to them, they would have to consider scrapping the competition or reducing the number of games these players have to compete in.

FIFA Club World Cup

The main competition that triggered players to protest the number of matches they are expected to play per year is the expanded Club World Cup.

The competition previously involved the champions of the different continents alone, and European champions usually joined in at the latter stages.

However, the expanded version of the competition, which takes place during the summer of 2025, will involve more clubs and several more favourites.

Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, and Juventus, among others, would compete for the crown from Europe, and more teams from other continents would be involved.

It is hard to find a reason why the Club World Cup has been expanded, and it is a clear sign that football’s governing bodies are simply not paying attention to the players' pleas.

This competition needs to be stopped before it even begins because it makes no sense at all, and FIFA must pretend for once that it cares about the welfare of the players more than selling more Club World Cup tickets.

UEFA Nations League

Another heavily criticised addition to the football calendar is the UEFA Nations League, a new tournament for European nations with different tiers.

UEFA already uses every international window for its qualifiers, other FIFA qualifiers, or even major tournaments like the Euros.

However, they still think it made sense to add a new competition to their schedule, which certainly adds more money to their bank account.

This decision did not care about the welfare of the players at all because it added more games for them to play, and the nations have the incentive to take it seriously.

The tournament is now a mainstay on the football calendar, but it is one of those tournaments that should never have been added to the football schedule, even though fans love to buy its tickets.

Domestic cups

Every top league has domestic cups, and it is a competition that gives some small teams the chance to rub shoulders with the big boys at the top level of their domestic competition.

This makes it appealing to the public, especially fans of the teams in the lower leagues who get lucky enough to see the world’s biggest stars when they draw a top club.

However, the truth remains that domestic cups is another tournament that adds more games to the calendar.

We have already discussed the Carabao Cup. England also has the FA Cup, so they have at least three domestic competitions that involve many clubs.

If they do not consider the idea of scrapping the tournaments, they can make it optional for teams who have additional fixtures like European and intercontinental commitments.

These clubs would be allowed to decide if they want to play in the competition instead of making it automatic for everyone to compete in them.

Conclusion

The time has come for clubs and the governing bodies to seriously consider the number of games the players have to play.

They have to cut down on those fixtures and ensure there is enough time for each player to rest during the year.