Rodri Hernandezone of the best footballers in the world, has given voice to a request that is gaining more and more strength in the locker rooms of football teams. “We are about to go on strike”said the player of the Manchester Cityone of the captains of the Spanish team. The reason is clear: footballers are exposed to a long and busy calendarfull of games, and at some point they will have to stop.
In the run-up to Manchester City’s first match in the new Champions League, Rodri has raised his voice to denounce how the owners of the competitions – in this case UEFA – are squeezing the footballers. «From my experience I can say that playing 60 or 70 games It is not optimal. A player may be able to be at the highest level if he plays between 40 and 50 games, then performance will drop», commented the Spanish midfielder.
The anger of the players is serious and Rodri Hernández has openly talked about going on strike in the future. “I think that we’re about to get there», he answered when a journalist asked him about the things that footballers could do to stop this busy schedule and if among those measures was a strike.
According to the Madrid midfielder, recent European champion with Spain, going on strike “It is a widespread opinion among players” and if everything continues as it is now “we will have no choice.” This represents a revolution in football and the first threat by footballers to paralyze the entire sport. The stars of the show are fed up.
This fatigue in footballers is motivated by the increases each year in more matches on 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 until now. And some teams will even have to play four more games to reach the round of 16 than has happened in recent seasons.
Rodri Hernández threatens to strike
«Someone must care about us because we are the protagonists of this sport, business or whatever you want to call it. Not everything can be money and marketing, the important thing is the quality of the show»added Rodri Hernández, an authoritative voice in the world of football. The City midfielder is not the first to criticize the calendar that UEFA or FIFA have imposed on them, but he is the first to openly talk about going on strike.
A few weeks ago, in the run-up to the European Super Cup, Dani Carvajal -who, like Rodri, is one of the captains of the European champion team- has already advanced the anger with the calendar. «It doesn’t make any kind of sense. It is impossible for us to maintain the level. We cannot play 72 games. The appropriate bodies must analyze this. The games go down in level and we and our families suffer,” said Carvajal.
The Real Madrid full-back, like Rodri Hernández and so many other footballers, are subjected to an enormous load of matches that, far from being relegated, increases every year. The Eurocup ended on July 14 and a month later the first national and international titles were already being played. And once the season has started, the matches continue without a break, with new tournaments (see the Club World Cup that will be played next June) or with more matches in the existing ones, as is the case with the new Champions League that begins this Tuesday.
