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Months After Outrage on UEFA and FIFA, Pep Guardiola Calls For Players to Go on Strike to Fix Crammed Schedule, Alluding to NBA Example

Published 09/30/2023, 2:15 PM EDT

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How do many stay at the top despite the load and pressure? With increasing demand, players are risking their physical and mental health to compete at the highest levels. But along with fitness, even mental stress gets to the best in the sport. Pep Guardiola was recently upset with soccer administrators and is now urging players to speak out against tight schedules.

Manchester City has been playing good soccer for the last decade, but recently, they have raised the bar to the highest. This also meant that City would play more matches, in more competitions, which makes them prone to injuries and fatigue.

Players can bring change feels Pep Guardiola

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Guardiola became the first manager after Alex Ferguson to win a treble in England. With a lot of matches throughout the year, 65 in their 22/23 campaign, Pep feels that players cannot find a proper break to recover and regain match fitness. In order to bring a change in the scheduling system, he advised players to protest regarding the tiring schedule.

Guardiola recently said, “There is only one solution to change something, maybe if all the players decide for themselves to say, ‘Stop’, then you have to change something, and then FIFA, UEFA will maybe react a little bit.”

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It’s been little less than two months, but City has already played nine matches in the season. Guardiola’s aim is to curb down on as many matches as possible. He feels that only players’ perseverance can convince FIFA and UEFA. The Spaniard said that business will keep going until the players aren’t there to play. The Manchester City boss alluded to an example from basketball, citing the NBA as a prime example for his idea.

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Pep asks to learn from other sports, takes a jibe at FIFA and UEFA

Even though Pep enjoys playing the sport, the need for a proper break without any soccer interference is what he is expecting. He feels a mere 3-week break does nothing to the players’ stress. Manchester City lost their key player Kevin De Bruyne to injury last month leading to Guardiola’s fury on FIFA and UEFA.

The Spaniard cited the NBA as an example, saying, “ Always I use the NBA as an example. They play 80 games in a few months, but after that, they have four months off, or three months off if you don’t play the finals, and you can regenerate, the managers and everything, new ideas, and after you can go full in.”

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The former Barcelona star manager has the experience of top-class soccer and knows how it affects players. He wants the players to take action that will lead FIFA to think of these much-needed breaks. To him, among many, it is common sense that even the best professionals need a break not only physically but for their mental health as well.

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Written by:

Ruthu

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Ruthu has a deep passion for soccer, particularly for Arsenal Football Club and the legendary Lionel Messi. With a fervent interest in sports journalism, he enjoys covering soccer from around the world. Alongside his dedication to soccer, Ruthu has a professional background as a qualified Clinical Pharmacist.
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Edited by:

Jayant Chhabra