Jamie Carragher is taking the piss out of FIFA and UEFA over an issue which directly affects Liverpool

The Premier League schedule could be further affected in 2025, with former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher labeling the situation a “joke” as the health of the players is not taken into account.

To host the expanded FIFA Club World Cup in the future, the Africa Cup of Nations could be brought forward, which would affect Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. The tournament, which usually takes place every two years, usually starts in February, but could be pushed back as far as December.

The change would leave Premier League teams short-handed during its busy holiday schedule and could lead to a major rule change. Clubs are only required to release players for one final international tournament each year, but this could be increased to two.

Carragher is not keen on change and has taken to social media to express his frustration. “The amount of football we ask top players to play is beyond a joke,” Carragher posted on X. “Quality is going down and more importantly injuries are going up. @FIFPRO will have more battles on its hands with @UEFA @FIFAcom in the future.”

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Liverpool may only have Salah, who is affected by this, having previously hosted African players such as Sadio Mane and Naby Keita. Defender Joel Matip is Cameroonian, but following a coaching dispute, he no longer represents his national team.

African players will not be affected in the 2024-25 season as the tournament does not take place until the following year, but 25-26 could be brutal. With the season starting in August, the African players will then depart for the AFCON in December before returning to Premier League action.

Then, when the season ends in May/June, there will be a short break until the 2026 World Cup, hosted in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The elite players will not see any changes before the start of preparations for the 2026-27 season.

While this is only a problem for the elite African players, and also the pressure on the rest of the squad facing a period of absence without teammates, it is part of a wider problem. Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has bemoaned the number of games played by elite players during his nine-year tenure at the club.

Manchester City head coach and Klopp’s Premier League nemesis Pep Guardiola even agreed. “At the moment there is an imbalance between the number of players you have in a team, the competitions you have to play and the big gap between the breaks that guys usually need and what they get,” Klopp said in 2019. .

“If you’re an international player and you play in all the big competitions in the world, then you get two weeks off a year. That’s a fact.” Klopp and Guardiola have often disagreed, despite their mutual respect, but even the City manager has sided with the German. “I completely agree with Jurgen about that kind of statement about ‘too much,'” Guardiola said.