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The reporter reported coldly FIFA is pushing for a 32-team version of the Club World Cup, and in addition to the European giants whose commercial interests are affected, professional players are the biggest opponents. The International Professional Footballers' Association (FIFPRO), which has more than 65,000 members, has taken FIFA to court in conjunction with the Europa League (EL) over the players' lack of competition, physical exhaustion and increased risk of injury. Professional footballers are human beings and can't play 50 or 60 games a year and still be at a high level.

The 32-team Club World Cup means that the top players in the top league can only have a full summer break and pre-season preparation period every three years. At the start of the season, Rodri publicly stated that top flight players were "close" to a boycott due to protest against the overcrowding of international competitions. A few weeks later, after missing City's full pre-season preparations for the European Championships, he suffered a serious rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. It is worth mentioning that the game in which he was injured was the 67th official match that Rodri had participated in since August last year!

During the international break in November, a large number of European internationals retired due to injury. At the same time, the injury crisis of Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid and other giants is too serious, which continues to confirm people's doubts about the excessive number of players playing. Especially with the expansion of the Champions League by 4 games, FIFA has added such a huge competition, and the players are really overwhelmed. And if FIFA insists on going its own way, as Rodri said, it cannot be ruled out that the extreme situation of a collective boycott of the Club World Cup by top players cannot be ruled out.

Break the traditional rhythm of football

The summer tournament every two years has been a traditional professional season in world football, especially in European football, since the 1960 European Championship. Barring exceptional circumstances, the top players receive a full summer holiday every other year and plenty of pre-season recovery and preparation for their competitive fitness. Clubs can also take advantage of pre-season warm-up matches to reinvigorate the team's form while making huge commercial profits. However, the "airborne" of the 32-team version of the Club World Cup broke the regular rhythm of professional football that has been running for 66 years. The players' holidays have changed from every other year to every three years, and the completely disrupted pace of pre-season preparation, combined with more and more games, has greatly increased the risk of injury.

In the 2024/25 season, for example, if a top Premier League player plays all of the Community Shield (1 game), League Cup, FA Cup (6 games), Premier League (38 games), Champions League (17 games) and Club World Cup (7 games), plus national team competitions (10 games), the maximum number of matches played in a single season can reach 85! And that's not even counting the extra fixtures brought about by the FA Cup replay and European qualifiers, which shows the density of professional football today.

FIFA's unilateral decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams has increased the World Cup schedule by one week, which has caused widespread dissatisfaction among clubs and players. The 32-team Club World Cup is tantamount to depriving top professional players of half of their normal summer break and pre-season preparation. In this lawsuit against FIFA and the new Club World Cup, top professional players hope to have a say in the scheduling of international competitions and minimize the risk of injury caused by too many games.

This season coincides with the expansion of the European Championship and the Champions League, and the double pressure of top players not being able to complete their pre-season preparation and the increase in games has swept the five major leagues. So far in the new season, there have been as many as 19 serious knee cruciate ligament injuries, and according to PremierInjuries, as of late November, there have been as many as 209 injuries in the Premier League, resulting in more than 750 missed games, and knee injuries account for 27% of injuries. There is a clear correlation between the increase in the number of player injuries and the lack of a full pre-season preparation period and an increase in the number of games in the tournament year.

FIFA interests and the health of the players

FIFA's lawsuit against the Europa League Organization and FIFPRO is very far-fetched in its counterarguments. Infantino highlighted that most of the matches that lead to excessive fatigue and increased risk of injury are domestic competitions for the club rather than international. FIFA has reduced the number of international breaks from seven to five per season, the 32-team Club World Cup is only held every four years, half of the teams only play three games, and the team that reaches the final will play the full seven games.

But the real essence of the problem is that FIFA and clubs compete for football business resources. FIFA used the time when the summer players should have been off to host the Club World Cup, squeezing out the players' rest space and the subsequent share of the club's summer commercial revenue.

Both FIFA and clubs require each other to reduce the number of matches, but professional players receive salaries from clubs, and FIFA does not have a strong contractual binding force on professional players to participate in their club's competitions. The FIFPRO survey is even more representative: the organization, which has more than 65,000 members of professional footballers worldwide, shows that 72% of players support shortening their schedules and ensuring adequate and regular rest. The stats show that 17% of players played more than 55 games last season, and 30% played in six consecutive 'back-to-back' intensive games. Players who want to have plenty of rest in the summer and get enough pre-season recovery and preparation to adjust to the new season have never significantly reduced the risk of injury. But this is precisely the health protection that FIFA cannot provide.

Premier League CEO Masters believes that too many games threaten the health of players and have reached a tipping point that must be changed. He stressed that the number of Premier League matches has not changed over the years, and that it is the number of international competitions for clubs and national teams that has been increasing. Back in June, players' unions in England, France and Italy had sued FIFA in the Brussels Commercial Court and tried to transfer the case to the European Court of Justice. The core appeal of the players' unions in the three major leagues is the right of players to take a fair vacation, and it is necessary to clearly stipulate that players have 3-4 weeks of full rest per year, plus 3-4 weeks of full pre-season recovery and preparation period, so that they can recover their strength and train reasonably to achieve competitive condition, and FIFA happens to arrange the Club World Cup during the traditional rest time of players.

Given the lengthy legal process, it is likely that the event will not be invalidated before the start of next year's Club World Cup. This means the players will have to choose to accept what has been the most played and most intense season in history.