Lewandowski Blasts Fixture Density and Blame it for Poor Quality Football

Barcelona’s star striker Robert Lewandowski has come out to express his opinion on the overcrowded schedule of football saying that it is degrading the quality of the game. The Polish captain stressed that the “density” of the match calendar and short breaks between the games hurt the quality of the games. An increase in the number of tournaments held by FIFA and UEFA has been criticized by players and coaches.

Lewandowski pointed out that the issue of playing many matches is a problem causing negative impacts on performance. From 2026 there will be an increase in the number of teams to 48 from the current 32, this has been criticized by various parties in the football fraternity. Some of the top personalities in the game such as Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag have attributed the increase in injuries to fixture congestion. Others have also pointed to the fact that the season was tiring as the cause of England’s poor performances at Euro 2024.

Lewandowski joined other people in expressing such concerns in an interview with ESPN. “It’s nearly unmanageable to remain relevant, every game,” he said. “Because you do not have time for resting well, you do not have time to be out of football in your mind,” We are human we are not machines, probably in the end the quality of the games of football will be a little bit be going down because of the intensity of the games.

Besides, expanding the 2026 FIFA World Cup which will raise the total of matches from 64 to 104, there are plans to implement a new 32-team Club World Cup annually beginning in 2025. The UEFA Champions League is also growing with a greater number of teams and games which puts additional pressure on domestic leagues and cups.

Currently, FIFA is in a legal fight with some European football leagues and player unions who have petitioned the European Commission against the world football governing body. European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe have claimed that FIFA’s calendar expansion is ‘ prima facie abusive’ despite FIFA counteroffering to further engage in consultation.

‘The next campaign is going to be even more challenging than earlier because we are going to be playing more games in the Champions League,’ said Lewandowski, who is also the Poland skipper. ‘There are the games with the club but there is the national team as well, so that means traveling a lot. ’ This will be a very big challenge for every club and every player because the expectations are always very high and because you play a game every two days people expect you to play every game at the highest level.

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