Are There Too Many Competitions at the Top Level of European Football?
Football’s global profile has never been bigger or more deeply ingrained in the cultural appetite than it is right now. Domestic leagues have been well-rooted in national interests for decades and decades – since the amateur game went professional back in the 1940s to 1970s. For fans, more football being available to an eager audience never seemed like a bad thing then and, now, still doesn’t seem like a bad thing. However, the players themselves have the opposite opinion.
2024/2025 has seen the reformatting of the FIFA Club World Cup and amendments made to the UEFA Champions League that add extra games to teams’ schedules. It’s busy. Many pros will be grateful that there is no international competition this summer. Manchester City’s captain and talisman Kevin De Bruyne has raised these concerns, stating that by the end of the FIFA Club World Cup, there will only be three weeks until the new Premier League season starts. The Belgian wants more time to rest and recuperate to perform at his best.
Is he right?
Holding the Audience’s Attention
For a number of years, football’s leading bodies have stated that they are competing for entertainment attention with video games and TV shows. What they are really arguing is that they believe football is just not interesting enough to hold an audience’s attention. Has that ever been true?
No. Football has always been fascinating. The scope and depth of interest from all fans are boundless. Fans of teams in the Premier League know exactly what goes on in League Two, Bundesliga, and the Liga Nos. Nothing demonstrates this more than all the competitions punters can see on online bookmakers. Not all bookmakers are the same, though. View this list, for instance, where some bookmakers will only have the big hitters – the top-5 European leagues and the continental competitions, with major international tournaments. Others, though, will have divisions from Brazil, Japan, and even Thailand.
Knowing the landscape in these leagues can be a normal course for some fans – especially if they’re also avid fans of games like Football Manager.
But, also, yes, football can be boring. It’s a slow sport that has few goals. 90 minutes can produce under 5 shots and then be made brilliant by a single majestic strike out of the blue in the 93rd minute when half the stadium and TV audience have switched off. Or 90 minutes can produce under 5 shots but has been a riveting end-to-end contest when neither team can quite do enough to force a goal.
In the end, though, the truth of the matter is that football always rewards the audience. There’s a memorable goal, a memorable pass, a memorable dribble, a memorable event in the journey of a team of players – it could be a short-term pay-off or a long-term one. Ultimately, football rewards. Can too many games take that away?
Can Football Be Changed?
De Bruyne is worried that too many games will mean players are tired in crucial games, making them boring or at least ‘bad’ for the audience. But, objectively, as we’ve discussed, it’s hard for a bad game of football to be truly so, so terrible that the game loses an audience long-term. As a result, the players are simply arguing for themselves – which is noble! – but the fans will appreciate a game whoever is playing. Yes, they want to see the best of the best play and they want to see those players playing for their team – and winning – but football is football, and they’ll likely be happy either way.
Impact on Smaller Clubs and Lesser-Known Competitions
While much of the debate around too many football competitions centres on elite clubs and players, there’s another angle worth exploring: how these changes affect smaller clubs and lesser-known competitions. The football ecosystem is not just made up of juggernauts like Manchester City or Real Madrid; it’s also home to clubs in lower divisions or those from smaller leagues who rely on international or continental competition exposure for financial sustainability and audience growth.
For these clubs, the congested calendar can either be a blessing or a curse. On the one hand, qualifying for competitions like the UEFA Europa League or the Europa Conference League can bring much-needed revenue and attention. For clubs that rarely compete on the global stage, playing in European competitions offers them exposure they wouldn’t otherwise have. Teams like RB Salzburg, Atalanta, and even Leicester City have enjoyed these benefits, gaining followers and improving their finances through deep runs in European tournaments.
However, there’s a downside. The sheer volume of competitions can stretch a smaller club’s resources to breaking point. Many of these clubs don’t have the squad depth to compete on multiple fronts. When a lower-tier team is playing domestic league fixtures, cup competitions, and European tournaments, player fatigue becomes an issue that can significantly harm their chances of staying competitive in their own league. For instance, clubs in smaller European leagues might qualify for the UEFA Champions League or Europa League but struggle to balance that with their domestic season, leading to poor performances on both fronts. It becomes a vicious cycle – they need the financial boost from continental football, but their lack of depth and resources can cause them to crash out of both competitions. There have been examples of domestic league officials rearranging fixtures to ease the load slightly on these major teams from smaller nations, but they still need to play those games.
These issues aren’t limited to Europe either. In domestic cup competitions, smaller clubs have to balance league survival with cup runs. Competitions like the English Football League (EFL) Cup or France’s Coupe de la Ligue often force managers to rotate squads, prioritizing league survival over cup glory. For smaller clubs, while the dream of cup success remains, the packed schedule is a burden that few can afford to handle effectively. And when elite clubs devalue these competitions by fielding weakened teams, it raises another question: are these lesser-known competitions still important, or are they getting lost in the shuffle?
Player vs. Club Interests: A Growing Tension
As the football calendar continues to expand, a growing tension between player welfare and club ambitions becomes more apparent. Clubs invest millions in signing and developing players, and naturally, they expect their key assets to perform at their best throughout the season. Yet, international competitions and newly expanded formats place an even greater strain on players’ physical and mental capacities.
Consider international tournaments like the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) or the Copa America. These events often occur mid-season, forcing players to leave their clubs for weeks at a time. The demands of representing one’s country can lead to injuries or fatigue, which negatively impact their performance when they return to their domestic leagues. Club managers, in turn, are left with a difficult choice: do they rest players after international duty, risking a drop in form for their club, or push them into the lineup to meet the high expectations of fans and owners?
The scheduling of international breaks during the club season also fuels this conflict. Major clubs in Europe, like those in the Premier League or La Liga, often find themselves competing for league titles, continental trophies, and domestic cups while their star players are jetting off for national team duty. These competitions, while important on a national level, can hinder a club’s season. Injuries picked up during international friendlies or qualifiers can derail a club’s ambitions.
This conflict is further complicated by FIFA’s introduction of more international competitions, such as the expanded FIFA Club World Cup and the introduction of the UEFA Nations League. Although these tournaments are designed to attract more viewers and generate additional revenue, they also put players in a tough spot. They have to balance their loyalty to both club and country while maintaining peak fitness across an ever-increasing number of games.
For players, the issue is about longevity and quality of life. De Bruyne’s concerns about burnout are echoed by many others, who believe that constantly being asked to perform at the highest level will cut their careers short or diminish their effectiveness on the pitch. The consequences of this are clear: not only could players’ health suffer, but the overall quality of football may decline as tired, injured players are unable to perform at their peak.
Managers with huge profiles like Pep Guardiola or Jürgen Klopp have been vocal about how player welfare is being compromised in favor of generating more revenue. They argue that the clubs, who invest so heavily in their players, should have more control over when and how often their players compete. However, national associations have their own stakes in the matter, as international tournaments bring prestige and financial gains for countries and governing bodies.
In this growing tug of war, the fans are often left feeling conflicted. They want to see the best players represent their club and country, but the fatigue and injuries caused by excessive competition can ultimately detract from the quality of the football they’re watching.
Ultimately, this tension between players, clubs, and national teams is becoming one of football’s most complex issues, and it’s unlikely to go away unless governing bodies, clubs, and players can come to an agreement on how to balance the demands of an increasingly crowded calendar.