Barcelona defender Jules Kounde “agreed with everything” said by Manchester City’s Rodri on footballers being “close” to striking over the volume of matches.
The mass expansion of the Club World Cup by FIFA — coupled with an increase in Champions League matches in UEFA’s new competition format — has swelled the club calendar.
Global players’ union FIFPro recently teamed up with several players’ unions in Europe — including the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) — to launch two legal challenges against FIFA’s decision to stage the competition next summer.
“I agree with everything Rodri said,” 25-year-old Kounde said on Wednesday, ahead of Barcelona’s Champions League match against Monaco. “The calendar is getting longer every year, we have more matches and less time off.
“We have been saying this for a long time and nobody pays attention to us, neither the players nor the coaches are listened to.
“There will come a time when we will have to go on strike because it’s the only way for those who decide to understand us.
“We take more and more risks, there are more injuries because there is less time off. Now with the Club World Cup, we are going to reach around 70 matches per season, which is crazy.”
A recent FIFPro report on player welfare concluded that the 2024-25 season is set to be the “worst” in terms of workload.
Kounde added: “If things haven’t changed, it’s because we need to get organised and communicate more.
“There are unions in different countries. In France, there’s an important one. We need to get organised so that there can be a collective voice. It will be more powerful when the message comes from an organisation that brings together many players. We have to talk about it and organise.”
FIFA, meanwhile, deny the suggestion that they are to blame for the congested calendar, adding FIFPro were consulted about changes to the overall 2025-30 international match calendar, including the 2025 Club World Cup.
(Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)
