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Kevin de Bruyne, the Belgium and Manchester City midfielder, has slammed FIFA and UEFA, the two of the biggest governing bodies in football, for increasing the number of matches for the 2024-25 season. During a recent interview, the 33-year-old showed his concern about how the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup, to be played in the summer of 2025, under an expanded format, will lead to players getting just around three weeks to prepare for the next season.
Notably, UEFA expanded its three club football competitions in Europe, i.e., the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Conference League, to 36 teams this season, which will lead to the players needing to play a couple of more matches on the calendar. Apart from that, the additional set of matches under the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup in 2025, could lead to a negative long-term impact on physical and mental well-being of the football players, indicated Kevin de Bruyne.
The real problem will emerge after the Club World Cup: Kevin de Bruyne
In his exclusive chat with Reuters, the Belgian referred to how the players will be needing to prepare themselves to play 80 matches in the 2025-26 season after just a short break lasting three weeks. He was quoted as saying, as per ESPN, “The real problem will emerge after the Club World Cup...We know there will be only three weeks between the Club World Cup final and the first Premier League match. So, we have three weeks to rest and prepare for another 80 matches.”
Kevin de Bruyne also gave props to PFA and other player associations for trying to find solutions to the increasingly packed football season before tearing into FIFA and UEFA. He said, “Maybe this year things will be OK, but next year could be problematic. The Professional Footballers' Association in England and other player associations have tried to find solutions. The issue is that UEFA and FIFA keep adding extra matches, and we can raise concerns, but no solutions have been found. It seems that money speaks louder than the players' voices.”
In his latest appearance for Belgium, Kevin de Bruyne scored a brace either side of half-time, to play a key role in defeating Israel 3-1 at the Nagyerdei Stadion in Hungary, kick-starting their UEFA Nations League 2024-25 campaign with a victory.
