Another unnecessary and poorly timed international fixture break was bestowed upon a few days ago. It was sandwiched in between league games. Of course, some of the matches were important such as the Asian World Cup Qualifiers but the rest were meaningless friendlies with a few memorable performances and inexcusable trips across the globe. Of course, FIFA picked this date but they should not bear the brunt of the blame. The blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the respective country’s federation.
The FIFA Virus reared its ugly head again a few days ago. Barça players had to play in meaningless friendlies which required them to play on a few days rest and training with their national teams coupled with flights across the Atlantic Ocean. Alexis Sanchez was the biggest FIFA Virus casualty when he suffered yet another injury that will keep him out up to four weeks. Barça players representing Spain flew all the way to Panama for a friendly while Dani Alves traveled to New York with Brazil to face Colombia. Messi traveled to Saudi Arabia to represent Argentina.
All the Barça players had to return and get ready for a match today. Today! Not tomorrow, but today! So Barça players, and other club players too, had to return and get ready for another match on two day’s rest. I am sure that is exactly in the best interests of the players and the game. Many would love to spew venom at FIFA for such a meaningless decision to have International games played in such a manner but I don’t think they should bear the brunt of the blame.
They are not blameless either but I wouldn’t have objected if this window was used solely for Asian World Cup Qualifiers. However, since these games were scheduled on a Wednesday and not over a weekend, why did the rest of the world decide to schedule friendlies? This is why I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the country’s federation. RFEF, Royal Spanish Football Federation, and other country’s federations decided to schedule the games. RFEF has been cashing on Spain’s success by scheduling them to play in friendlies in Argentina, Puerto Rico, and just recently Panama the past few years.
Countries do not have an obligation to schedule a friendly. FIFA only provides the window but the final decision lies with the Federations. Mexico, a side that is well known for playing way too many friendlies, did not participate in the glutton of friendlies on Wednesday. Obviously, the Mexican league playoffs played a part in that decision but they could have scheduled a friendly and fielded C team too. They did not! Therefore, it is possible to not see your country play a friendly on a day set aside for friendlies. So, the next time you complain about countries playing meaningless friendlies; don’t blame FIFA, but blame the Federation head honchos who decided to cash in and schedule the friendly.
