Liverpool, as one of the best teams in England and Europe, has frequently faced fixture congestion
Last season, Jurgen Klopp’s Reds played 63 games – every single one they could have played.
With the World Cup sandwiched in the middle of the season, fixture congestion has been especially severe this season.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has now announced plans to hold a new 32-team Club World Cup in 2025.
The new Club World Cup idea was supposed to debut in China in 2021 with 24 teams.
It was postponed owing to the epidemic, but Infantino has recently indicated that it will resume in three years.
‘Every four years, it will be a Club World Cup of 32 teams, and the first edition will be in the summer of 2025,” he said at a news conference ahead of the 2022 World Cup final.
“They will be the greatest teams from around the world invited to compete.”
‘Cattle-like treatment’
The announcement follows another season in which there were worries about schedule and player stress.
And Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher is dissatisfied with Infantino’s announcement.
The Anfield icon moved to Twitter to slam the plans, alleging over-used players are being “treated like livestock”.
Carragher asked European clubs to boycott the new World Cup format.
Like the ridiculous idea of @FIFAWorldCup every two years, this is another one from Infantino. Players need rest at some point, they are getting treated like cattle. FIFA hate the CL & want something similar themselves.
European clubs should boycott it. https://t.co/YHdbAx8rna— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) December 16, 2022
“Like the absurd idea of a World Cup every two years, this is another from Infantino,” he tweeted.
“Players need rest at some point, they are getting handled like livestock.
“FIFA despises the Champions League and wishes for something similar. Clubs across Europe should boycott it.”
With football’s global popularity increasing at an exponential rate over the previous 30-odd years, there is a greater requirement for’supply’ in terms of games and scheduling.
Footballers, on the other hand, are simply human. They’re prone to tiredness, burnout, injuries and so on.
There must be a balance between growing and propagating football and focusing on player welfare, which includes timetables that do not run players into the ground.
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