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Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has accused football authorities of prioritising revenue over player welfare in a damning assessment of the global football calendar.

Courtois, 29, was speaking after his country lost 2-1 against European champions Italy in UEFA’s Nations League third-place play-off on Sunday – a match he described as “pointless” in the build-up.

Both countries made a number of changes to their starting line-ups from their respective semi-final defeats in midweek, with Belgium unable to call upon captain Eden Hazard and striker Romelu Lukaku due to muscle fatigue.

“This game is just a money game and we have to be honest about it,” said Courtois.

“We just play it because for UEFA it’s extra money.

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27 Comments

  1. What is he complaining about?. For the money you are getting they should not complain when called to do overtime. And also you wanted to be a footballer. That's part of being a footballer

  2. What is the nation's league even for? It's useless, they just keep on inventing competitions no one cares about. Now they want a world cup or european championship every year, there will be no preseason ever again and the quality of football we are going to watch will drop massively.

  3. It's good of him to point that out but those players go strangely silent when their clubs require them to play 7 club matches in 21 days or pointless pre-season tours across the globe. International football is just around 10-15 matches a year and this is what makes them complain while the club calendar keeps getting bloated.

  4. prof-voetballers zijn zielige mannekes die teveel betaald krijgen voor het werk wat ze moeten doen, de gewone werkmens werkt minimaal 40 uur en gaat dan nog uren naar de sportschool, verdienen weinig en houden het wel vol, zullen we ruilen Courtois. professional footballers are pathetic men who are paid too much for the work they have to do, the ordinary working person works at least 40 hours and then goes to the gym for hours, earn little and keep it up, we will trade Courtois

  5. So what he is saying is that: he still wants the million of euros to come in every year, but wants to work less for it? I wonder what my boss would say if I would go to him and say that he doesn’t care about me, just about the money?

  6. Use your bench or reserve players. I disagree with starting the same players every game or for consecutive games. There’s plenty of players that need to be debuted or given chances.

  7. I think they should stop looking at Nations league as a competitive tournament. If quality players like Isco at Real Madrid aren't playing much with their clubs countries should use them instead of relying on players from 1st team or even the young talents can be used. If top level players are fit and want to play they should but if they want rest during this time they should be leniently provided that, no questions asked.

  8. What games are you playing in june? Your season in Europe starts in september, while clubs from lower leagues need to play stupid qualifying rounds since june. You are protected from UEFA like rare animal species, and you criticize them?!

  9. İf The world cup start each 2 years. İt is better that UEFA European Championship, AFC ASİAN CUPS, CONCACAF GOLD CUP, African Cup of Nations, OFC Nations Cup, and COPA AMERİCA (Conmebol) better be abolish/remove. İt's gonna squeez players stamina (apart) till their desperate to die İf it running to!

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