‘We play too many games’ – Courtois accuses UEFA, FIFA of prioritizing money

Belgium goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois has accused European and World football governing bodies, UEFA and FIFA of prioritising money over the welfare of players.

Courtois, who also plays for Real Madrid in the Spanish League, pointed out that he feels players are being treated like “robots”.

The goalkeeper was in action for Belgium in their Nations League games – the semifinal and the third place play-off – during the current international break, which sparked the 29-year-old’s criticism.

His teammates Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku were two of the absentees for third place play-off – which Italy won 2-1 – with players suffering from muscular problems after featuring in the semi-final loss to France three days earlier.

“This game is just a money game, we have to be honest about it. We just play it because for Uefa it is extra money and it is an extra game on TV,” he told Sky Sports.

Read Also: Mbappe nets winner as France beat Spain to emerge Nations League champions

“OK, for us it’s a good game because it’s against Italy and for Italy it’s a good game because it’s against Belgium, but look how much both teams changed their players – if we had both been in the final there would have been others playing.

“This just shows that we play too many games.

“Next year we have a World Cup in November, we maybe have to play until the latter stages of June again. We will get injured and nobody cares about the players any more.

“After a long season we will have to play four games in the Nations League again, we will have two weeks’ holiday and that’s not enough for players to be able to continue playing 12 months at the highest level.

“If we never say anything it will always be the same. They (Uefa) can be angry about other teams making a Super League but they don’t care about the players, they just care about their pockets.”

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