Next year’s Africa Cup of Nations is due to be held at an earlier time to accommodate FIFA’s Club World Cup, potentially thrusting the Premier League Christmas calendar into disarray
Jamie Carragher has slammed FIFA over a potential interference in the fixture schedule, branding the demands on players "a joke" and predicting a stand-off between players and the game's governing bodies.
The criticism from the former England and Liverpool defender comes after The Independent claimed that the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is set to be held from late December 2025 to late January 2026, a decision made to accommodate FIFA's new expanded Club World Cup.
The calendar adjustments would not only impact the Premier League's Christmas schedule but would also reportedly require FIFA to enact a rule change to allow clubs to release players for more than one international finals tournament in the year as the 2026 World Cup is set to take place months later.
The current regulations state: “It is not compulsory to release the same player for more than one “A” representative team final competition per year. Exceptions to this rule can be established by the FIFA Executive Committee for the FIFA Confederations Cup only.”
And Carragher has now waded in on the situation and taken aim at FIFA for the physical demands being asked of players.
"The amount of football we ask the top players to play is beyond a joke," Carragher said on Twitter. "The quality drops and more importantly the injuries rise. FIFPRO will have more battles on their hands with UEFA and FIFA going forward."
Premier League chiefs are already reportedly concerned over the calendar's increasing congestion, while FIFPRO is already embroiled in an ongoing battle with FIFA in regards to the crammed football calendar, with legal action announced on the eve of Euro 2024.
According to the Independent, FIFPRO's primary concern is the expansion of the Club World Cup, which is set to become a 32-team tournament to be held in USA in the summer of 2025. The event has become a source of rancour amongst many who have slammed the project, which FIFA president Gianni Infantino began working on more than half a decade ago.
A potential conflict to arise in the potential calendar shift could be between FIFA and UEFA, with the newly-proposed dates set to interfere with UEFA's newly-expanded Champions League.
UEFA have already voiced disapproval over the Club World Cup, as it would add more games to their schedule and potentially threaten the Champions League's popularity.
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