Football players strike threat is wrong – say Bayern Munich and Uefa chiefs

The European Leagues and world players’ union Fifpro will next week submit their legal complaint about Fifa’s expansion of the Club World Cup to the European Commission in Brussels.

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin used his speech to also criticise high profile players for using their platform to make an argument that he says only applies to a small minority of professional players globally.

“We must recognise the match calendar has reached full capacity,” said Ceferin. “Limits have been reached.

“At the same time the impact is very different among clubs and players. Some are over-burdened. The others have spare capacity.

“In fairness to those who are stretched, I stand by what I said two months ago, there is no room for additional matches. But I have to add this, who is complaining? The ones who have the highest salaries and the ones [clubs] with 25 top players. The ones with lower salaries and hardly 11 players are not complaining. They love to play.”

Paris St-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi combines his club role with being chairman of the ECA.

PSG will play at the Club World Cup and Al-Khelaifi said he had taken calls from some clubs disappointed at the two per country limit put on the event by Fifa.

“The players and clubs who are complaining – don’t play,” he said. “I receive complaints about the fact only two clubs are participating from each country. Some want more than two. On the other side they are complaining. You cannot win.

“The calendar has always been an issue. It needs to be solved with all the stakeholders sitting together in an open and transparent way, to see what the best thing is for everybody, not just one set.

“Clubs are financing the ecosystem and salaries are going higher and higher. If we have the same competitions and the same revenues, that is an issue.”