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@ Bitcoin Nora
2024-06-06 19:14:48The below Reddit post excellently explains how FIFA and UEFA, football's two major governing bodies, are increasing the amount of games played in order to further capitalize on massive revenue streams.
https://www.reddit.com/r/football/comments/1d81wbk/last_season_man_city_played_73_games_hamstring/?share_id=e6WbyZEcnhj8tP1WoNjMj&utm_content=1&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=3
As a result, the quality of football as a product is getting worse. This is because top players are exhausted and injured, therefore performing less and to a lower standard. "The total number of player injuries across all of Europe’s top five men’s leagues was 3,985 throughout the 2022/23 season," the Reddit post states. "Player injuries in the Premier League are up by 30% compared to last season while hamstring injuries are up an incredible 96%."
In addition, fans are getting jaded because they are over-consuming games. "Feels like we just played our 99th game of the season tonight. It's exhausting as a fan never mind as a player 😂," Glazers Out (SE85)(U21241) posted on a football fan forum at the end of the 2023 season. "I won't lie.....I'm kind of looking forward to the summer a little. I want to go on holiday and have a break from football for a few weeks."
In other words, as football got monetized, the powers that be tried to supply more in order to fill their pockets. Rather than improve their governance, or finding innovative ways to grow football, they expect the footballers and fans to do more. This is like how central banks, in tandem with governments, print money in order to fulfill their obligations, rather than improving government services to justify increased taxes or cutting their spending (and power). This phenomenon is called debt-monetization, and it is done at the expense of ordinary workers, who, like football fans, don't get a say on the matter. The unproductive class (FIFA,UEFA, Federal Reserve, Bank of England) wield their decision-making authority to gain at the expense of the productive class (footballers, fans, plumbers, bakers).
FIFA and UEFA plan to take this "football match printing" even further, too. As of 2024, the UEFA Champions League will have eight group games rather than six. The number of teams in the FIFA Club World Cup is rising from seven to 32 in 2025. The FIFA World Cup is increasing its tournament by 16 teams, from 32 to 48. Instead of 64 matches, like before, 104 matches will now be played. This will likely lead to the further proliferation of player and fan fatigue.
In football, it is the talent of the players like Lionel Messi and the culture developed by fans over decades that makes it the most loved game on earth. It is also the scarcity of major tournaments that gives football so much meaning. For example, how difficult it is historically for 'lesser' nations to make it to the World Cup, or how rare it is for Brazil and Argentina to face each other in a major tournament.
But if FIFA and UEFA keep organising matches and tournaments at the current rate, then the sanctity of football will be diminished even further. Much in the same way that debt monetization causes the value of government currencies like the pound or the US dollar to debase over time.