Mikel Arteta fears the crowded football schedule will lead to players suffering from mental health problems.
Next season’s calendar promises to be the busiest on record. UEFA have introduced an expanded Champions League running from September to May, while a month-long FIFA World Club Cup will take place in the United States in June and July.
This will all come on the back of this summer’s Euros in Germany, ahead of the new domestic seasons around Europe. Arsenal boss Arteta admits players will suffer even more injuries due to the number of games they’re expected to play.
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But he reckons the biggest concern moving forward is the mental wellbeing of stars – which could sideline them for months at a time.
Speaking at the Global Soccer Forum held in Sardinia, Arteta said: “We forget that we are only counting acute injuries, muscle injuries, that keep a player out of for three weeks or six weeks.
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(Image: Getty Images)
“That’s very easy to diagnose with an MRI scan. But the problem we’re going to have is that one day, that player is going to say: ‘I’m not fit to play because mentally I’m not in the right condition’.
“You cannot put that player into an MRI scan; so the doctor is going to have to decide whether that player is available to play the next week, or in three months.
“When we have a few of those cases then what happens, because this game belongs to the players?
(Image: PA)
“This can happen one day, and that’s my biggest worry. It’s not just an injury of two weeks, but a much bigger problem that we can face in the future if we continue this way.”
Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano admits more needs to be done to protect the health of players.
He said: “Like everything in life, it’s priorities. We have to decide what’s important, starting with the health of the players. We have got into a spiral where everyone is defending each business (competition) – and we can’t go on like this.”