Friday 10th September 2021
“In the end it’s always about money”
Klopp also hates “idiotic” World Cup ideas
If a top-class FIFA advisory body has its way, the soccer World Cup will take place at a higher frequency in the future. The plans of the world association provoke violent reactions. Prominent German coaches are horrified and fear for the health of their players.
Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp has clearly criticized the reform plans for the international match calendar. “At one point someone has to understand that we can’t play without the players, the most important ingredient in this wonderful game,” said the former Bundesliga coach during a press conference. “Whoever thinks they are more important than the players – nobody is more important than the players.”
In the end, “it’s all about money,” said the 54-year-old. The players are simply traded. If the world championships were actually held every two years in the future, as the FIFA advisors suggested on Thursday, “we can be 100 percent sure that a European championship will also be played every two years,” added Klopp. For the top players this means “a big tournament every year”.
There is also some drastic rejection from the Bundesliga. “If you want to apply, make yourself seldom,” said Bayern head coach Julian Nagelsmann, referring to the already extreme burden on the national players and also spoke of “a devaluation of the World Cup” if it were to take place more often than every four years. FIFA director Arsène Wenger had made every effort on Thursday to rebut the charge argument.
“Who wants to make money like?”
According to the presentation of the technical advisory group, at least three of the five international match periods per year are to be abolished for the two-year instead of four-year World Cup cycle. After the tournaments – in uneven years, the EM would be played, among other things – fixed rest periods of 25 days should also be priced in. At least the increasing burden of more high-end games remains – for the professionals, participation in a World Cup is paramount.
“The players are already stressed,” said Hertha coach Pal Dardai. “It’s getting more and more difficult to have a tournament every summer that is not good for the body.” In addition, the Hungarian does not believe in the altruistic motives of FIFA to give more countries the chance to participate in the World Cup more often. “In the end it is always the money. Who wants to make money and how?” Said the 45-year-old.
The FIFA Council, the 37-member council headed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, can decide to change the calendar as it stands. Also represented are nine members of the heavily opposing European Football Union, UEFA, including DFB interim president Peter Peters. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin has already threatened a boycott in a “Times” interview, and the German Football Association would like to discuss the issue again in a committee meeting.
“Complete bullshit”
Borussia Mönchengladbach’s sports director Max Eberl regards the idea as “complete nonsense”. He thinks “absolutely nothing of discussing such topics in this form at such a time,” said Eber. “Football is already very present, even more presence does not lead to even more interest.” Gladbach’s trainer Adi Hütter has also long since reached the limits of the players’ stress levels. “It’s almost impossible to do that anymore. It’s also about the strain on the players, who often come back from international matches with injuries. In the past there were only two games, today there are three,” said the Austrian. A certain saturation has also been reached. “Sometimes you don’t even know who was in the final of the European Championship two years ago,” said Hütter.
The current calendar in international football is valid until 2024, in Germany the EM will be played that year. After the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico with 48 instead of 32 participants for the first time, the plan is for the next continental tournaments to follow in 2027 before another World Cup is due in 2028. The host will be determined by the FIFA Congress, which also waved through the implementation of the feasibility study for the men’s and women’s tournaments.
“I don’t believe in it. I grew up with the World Cup every four years. You have it every year in ice hockey, and that’s when I lose something special. We already have too much football. Everything is bloated,” said Hertha’s sports director Arne Friedrich. For a long time he was a reliable defender in the German national team. Nagelsmann said there was now “a flood of appointments, some of which are difficult to cope with”. Clubs like FC Bayern also have to move within a reasonable financial framework, he said: “If we have more and more games, the squad has to get bigger and you have exploding costs. Everything has to be capped,” the coach argued: “The Football player is of course also there to excite and entertain the masses, but the flood of games does not help football get better. “
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