Qatar 2022/injured players: "The current mass casualties were predictable" (UNFP)

"The players, who wish to be truly consulted on the issue of the international calendar, will not be satisfied for much longer with sounding the alarm every time they are given the opportunity, if no one hears them, if no one becomes aware of the reasons that have led to the current mass casualties, which were so predictable," declared the UNFP on 09/11/2022.

The French Union of Professional Footballers deplores the accumulation of injured players forced to withdraw from the 2022 World Cup - held for the first time in the middle of the European football season - because of the succession of matches they have been suffering since the start of the 2022-23 season.

Among the internationals already announced as missing in Qatar due to injury are Paul Pogba (FRA), N'Golo Kanté (FRA), Diogo Jota (POR), Timo Werner (GER), Marco Reus (GER), Giovani Lo Celso (ARG), Ben Chilwell (ENG), Reece James (ENG) and Sadio Mané (SEN). The clubs that qualified for the group stage of one of the three European Cups, for example, had to play their six matches in nine weeks, compared to 13 weeks in 2021-22…