Laporte: There are too many matches in a year, and a strike might become the only solution

In an interview on the RMC program, Spanish national team defender Aymeric Laporte expressed his regret over the commercialization of football, which has led to a significant increase in the number of matches. He revealed that he and his teammates have already discussed taking action to voice their discontent.

Laporte stated: "Yes, we often talk about this topic, and more and more people are paying attention to it. In fact, during a recent training camp, we discussed this issue."

"Players participating in the Champions League have to play in qualifiers, national team games have increased with the Nations League, and now there’s the Club World Cup—there are just too many matches."

Laporte also pointed out that the only solution players currently see is to reduce the number of matches. He added, "The situation with the number of games is getting worse every year, and many Spanish players are unable to play due to physical reasons, which is quite evident."

"When we raise warnings, I hope no one will be surprised. I believe that football is currently focusing more on financial interests than on players' health. Top players, of course, want to play in every match, but playing 70 to 80 matches a year is too much for players."

"For the fans, it's certainly nice, but we also need to consider that the pace of games has slowed down, and the quality of matches has declined because players accumulate a lot of fatigue, leading to injuries. I don't think enough is being done to protect the players' physical condition."