Barcelona star Jules Koundé hits out at ‘relentless’ football calendar

The Barcelona defender Jules Koundé has once again voiced frustration over the unrelenting demands of the football calendar, claiming that “over-consumption” is damaging the sport’s ecosystem and diminishing appreciation of the game.

The 26-year-old France international, who has repeatedly called out football’s governing bodies over the physical and mental toll of a calendar that allows for minimal rest, is back in the frame for club and country after recovering from a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the final weeks of last season.

Koundé hit out at La Liga officials last term after a rearranged match against Osasuna was scheduled three days after an international break, warning that players are “not machines” and accusing officials of “a lack of respect”. 

‘It’s not just about the players, there are families’

The France defender revisited those themes ahead of his country’s forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Iceland, suggesting that the unforgiving schedule affects not only those on the pitch but everyone associated with the game. 

“It’s not just about the players,” said Koundé. “There are families. I also think about all the people who work around football, and who are sometimes victims of this relentless pace.”

Given the absence of several international team-mates including Manchester City midfielder Rayan Cherki, who scored on his Premier League debut at Wolves but has since been ruled out for two months with a torn quadriceps muscle, and Arsenal’s William Saliba, who suffered an ankle injury in the warm-up before Sunday’s defeat at Liverpool and was withdrawn a few minutes into the game.

‘Sometimes in life, when we overdo things, we stop appreciating them’

The Club World Cup has done nothing to ease the workload faced by overburdened players, and while Barcelona did not make the cut for the competition, Koundé did not have to look much further than the absence of Ousmane Dembele from training on Tuesday for evidence of its impact. The Paris St Germain forward, who is struggling with a thigh injury, featured in the Club World Cup final on 13 July before lining up for his club in the UEFA Super Cup on 13 August. 

Koundé believes the existing system, with its proliferation of tournaments and incessant fixture changes, is both unsustainable and a threat to the wider appetite for the game.

“It’s a whole ecosystem,” he said. “Sometimes in life, when we overdo things, we stop appreciating them. When we see too much, we no longer give it the same importance. That’s what’s happening with football, it’s over-consumption.

“These are things we need to put into perspective, and I think they need to change.”

Koundé, who played 104 games in a row for Barcelona and France between November 2023 and last April, also voiced concerns about the workload facing players before last season’s Champions League campaign.

“Every year we have more games and less rest,” he said. “We have been saying this for three, four years and no one listens to the players. The time will come when we will have to go on strike to make ourselves heard by those who decide.

“We assume an increasing maximum risk and you can see that there are more injuries because there is less and less rest time.”