Inter Milan’s CEO and Sporting Director, Beppe Marotta, has voiced strong concerns about the demanding football schedule and its impact on players’ health. Speaking before Inter’s match against Roma, Marotta highlighted the growing issue of player fatigue and injuries due to the congested fixture list.
“We’re dealing with extreme athletic stress for the players,” Marotta stated. “There are too many matches and commitments that players struggle to manage. During this international break alone, there were about a hundred injuries.”
Marotta emphasized the difficulty in preventing non-traumatic muscular injuries due to the frequent matches. He called for a unified approach to address the problem, suggesting that UEFA, FIFA, and clubs need to come together to reduce the number of games played.
“We need to create a single table for discussion, which hasn’t been achieved yet,” he explained. “There are activities from UEFA, FIFA, and the clubs. We must ensure that the number of matches decreases. Football has become much faster, pressing is done higher up the pitch, and the number of tackles is always increasing.”
The Inter executive also touched on the need for expanded squads to cope with the demanding schedule. “It’s normal that squads need to be enlarged, especially in terms of quality. We shouldn’t talk about starters and reserves anymore, but starters and co-starters. We believe we have 23 players who can play in all competitions.”
