Marotta: ‘Fixture list has to be cut back, Inter must safeguard players’ | OneFootball

Inter President Beppe Marotta warns the fixture list ‘has to be cut back’ and calls for a summit from the sport’s authorities to ‘safeguard’ players from the growing risk of injuries.

The match with Roma kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s five Serie A games on the Liveblog.

The Nerazzurri will play more games than any other club aside from Juventus this season, because along with Serie A, the Champions League, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana, they have qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup.

That has caused a great deal of controversy with several leagues and the players’ union FIFPro suing FIFA for organising that tournament in the USA without consulting them first.

Inter chief Marotta hits out at modern football calendar

Piotr Zielinski Inter Manchester City (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Piotr Zielinski and Kristjan Asllani are both out of action after picking up injuries on international duty with Poland and Albania respectively.

“We have to live with the constant stress of so many games, it is becoming difficult for players to handle,” Marotta told DAZN.

“There have been circa 100 injuries for players who also have international duty and we need to safeguard their health.

“It is not an easy situation, because we need to sit around a table and recognise that the fixture list has to be cut back.

“What we need and currently do not have is a single place where all those involved can meet and discuss it together. There are activities for clubs, for UEFA, for FIFA, and that confrontation has only just begun.

“The number of games must be reduced, because the pace of the sport is now so high that it leads to more errors and more injuries, far superior to the average we’ve seen in previous years.”

The football authorities felt empowered to add more matches now that teams can use five substitutions to further rotate the squad at their disposal.

Could the key therefore be to simply expand the existing teams and use more of those players?

“It is difficult for any club to talk about first and second choice players, because they are co-first choice,” added Marotta.

“We have 23-24 players who can play in any competition. The coach then makes his decisions, but today for example our midfield is dictated to us by injuries, so naturally that’s going to limit the choices.”