Summary of today's events in sports, 14.11 (Sport1)
A day before the opening round of the season in the Premier League, Jurgen Klopp showed up for a routine press conference and was asked if he thought the current season would be a marathon or two sprints.
"The second part is certainly not a sprint," answered the coach.
"I understand the question, but I can't find a real answer," he continued, but when he tried to elaborate, the answer came to him alone.
He talked about the break and the difference between the players who will go far in the tournament and those who will rest and sighed: "I wasn't angry before I came, but after we started talking, I'm angry."
Klopp is one of the most prominent voices representing most of the football world.
The voices opposed to the very existence of the World Cup in Qatar, who see it as a symbol of FIFA's corruption, rapacity and lust for power. For coaches, players and fans, the World Cup in Qatar is a stain on the industry. A wasteful showpiece that claimed life, trampled on human rights, ignored the needs of the main players in it - The footballers themselves - and turned them into puppets on a string that someone bigger, senior and stronger than them moves. Even before the opening whistle, the World Cup in Qatar arouses feelings of disgust that cannot be ignored.
Now put everything aside and let's focus on another question: is the World Cup in winter something you can get used to?
In a different situation of choosing a cleaner host, could we in the future have a second break in the middle of the season?
The football world is relatively conservative and traditional.
Changes are automatically received with suspicion.
For example, we are still learning to live alongside the VAR, but understand that it is here to stay and find it difficult to imagine our lives without it.
The transition to five substitutions that was born after the forced corona break caught on and stayed.
So will it be possible to normalize a winter World Cup?
"It is impossible to treat players from the world's top in this way."
Klopp's message (Photo: GettyImages, PAUL ELLIS/AFP)
Some background: Qatar was "chosen" to host the World Cup in December 2010, but almost five years would pass before the official confirmation that the games would be held in the winter.
The decision on winter games, FIFA leaders claimed at the time, was "inevitable" despite wall-to-wall objections, including from the broadcasting franchisees. The dates were disputed. It is said that UEFA demanded during the discussions that the games be held in January 2022, but was met with refusal due to the proximity of the Winter Olympics in Beijing Jing.
The Qataris demanded that the final be held on December 18, their national holiday, with the official excuse being that it was a date that would allow tourists to return in time for Christmas.
The English, for their part, stood on the back foot and did not agree to give up celebrating the traditional Boxing Day cycle.
Thus was born the first winter World Cup in history.
Everything is known in advance almost seven years - and still somehow caught the groups off guard.
"If all the players had a break, it wouldn't be a problem, it's even good," Klopp said at the same press conference in August.
"A winter break like I had when I played in Germany is a positive thing that we know how to deal with. But for players who will reach the later stages, it's not okay. My problem is that everyone knows it's not okay, but no one is doing enough to change it. You can't treat it that way To the world's top players. It's like the climate crisis. Everyone knows something needs to be done, but no one asks what needs to be done."
The World Cup in November creates a situation of uncertainty, which is perhaps best compared to the forced corona break of 2020. There is, of course, one significant difference that Klopp is furious about - there are entire clubs and even entire leagues that enter a complete shutdown, which actually get another summer break in the middle of the season, and there is a small group of Players who will be forced to return to their team tasks almost without rest.
It's an unnatural and unequal situation that doesn't go down smoothly, certainly not for groups that are in positive momentum.
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Everything was known in advance for almost seven years - and still the teams were caught unprepared (Photo: Reuters)
"I'm torn," recently admitted Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann.
"In terms of results and the way we play, the break didn't come on time, but the break in the Champions League every year doesn't always come well either. If you look good, you want to continue the flow."
A similar criticism was heard from the coaches of the national teams themselves.
They didn't have a chance to prepare properly.
When the World Cup is held in the summer, the national teams can prepare for several weeks, go to a training camp, play preparatory games.
It also gives some injured players some recovery time.
It creates a buzz and creates excitement in the viewer.
Not this time.
Having the World Cup in winter killed the expectation.
Furthermore, in recent weeks we have repeatedly received the terrified looks of players who were afraid of getting injured in the teams' last matches.
Mikel Arteta, for example, urged his players to "put the World Cup out of their minds".
In Arsenal, as in quite a few senior teams on the continent, entire squads will be torn apart in the middle of the season.
Outwardly, Arteta tried to convey business as usual: "Those who are not participating in the tournament will get the rest time they deserve. For the rest, they are fulfilling every child's dream - to represent their country in the World Cup. There is nothing better than that."
Ok, just a question: what will happen if the gunners stop after the break and don't win the title?
Rest assured Arteta has an excuse ready.
He will already sound different.
What will Arteta say if his star is injured in the World Cup?
The excuses are ready (Photo: Reuters)
The anger also stems from FIFA's unilateral decision, because it is a gross violation of the world football schedule and the players really have no 'say'.
They don't like it, they don't like what's happening in Qatar, but can't do anything to prevent it.
It is impossible to demand that they express a firm position and boycott an event that is the pinnacle of their career.
On the other hand, there is no body that can express a firm opposition on their behalf.
In contrast, when the NBA discussed with the players about ending the corona season in a "bubble" format, the players' organization demanded as a condition the cancellation of the cannabis tests.
The league agreed and thus a new normal situation was created that has not changed to this day.
The elite footballers can criticize, but their voices are not heard.
For FIFA and the financiers who pull the strings, the players are highly paid and therefore should agree to play anywhere and anytime regardless of the psychological or physical effects of a winter World Cup. Former player and commentator Jamie Carragher saw this decision as absurd, one that jeopardizes every major football competition This season, including the World Cup itself. He said that he was disgusted by the situation in which players found themselves - "deciding" whether to keep their feet. "FIFA treats players like a herd of cattle. The World Cup in winter is a horrific decision. It must not happen again... World Cup 2022 He is a symbol of the ultimate power of FIFA.
They pushed for it, tore up the football schedule knowing nothing could stop them," Krager wrote.
"I will watch the World Cup, but I don't like the fact that the players are the ones who have to deliver the message," Klopp attacked the media recently.
"You are journalists, you have to convey the message, but you did not write critical articles about circumstances that were clear. We are all guilty. Footballers have to play and do the best for their country. Don't put Gareth Southgate in a situation where he has to talk about everything. He is a coach, not a politician. If you want to criticize, criticize, don't say Klopp said or Southgate said, as if that would change anything. You more than me made it happen 12 years ago."
The president of FIFA and the Emir of Qatar. They knew that nothing could stop them (Photo: GettyImages, Alexandre Schneider)
There are also other voices.
The problems of the summer World Cup are the advantages of the winter World Cup, and vice versa.
The players should arrive in better physical shape, so some expect a higher level tournament.
"I played in three World Cups and I reached all of them after 50-60 games in the season. The players will arrive in Qatar refreshed, excited and at the peak of energy. I think that on the field we will see a World Cup like no other," said David Beckham.
Even Neymar provided a similar statement: "The preparations for this World Cup are better than usual, because they come in the middle of the season, when we are at our peak physically. Players can be tired at the end of the season, so I think this World Cup will be at a very high level."
In the past, there were also those who argued that it would be necessary to examine whether this model is more correct, whether there is room to depart from traditions and conventions - why is it possible to hold different Super Cup games in the middle of the season in countries that pay a lot of money to teams such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China and Qatar itself?
After all, the teams themselves embark on grueling journeys that wear out the players in order to conquer new markets and increase revenues.
These arguments require proof, but the feeling is that the road to normalizing the World Cup in winter is long.
Even a World Cup at a high level will be compared to the chaos that will be in the teams after it, the amount of injuries, the physical and mental state that the continent's top teams will reach in the deciding games in May.
With no real hype, we're left with only trying to imagine what this strange beast will look like.
The absurdity is that those elite players who were trampled by FIFA are the only ones who can save the honor of the scandalous and slandered organization, clean the stain and forget the shame. years and let such a disgrace happen again.
FIFA World Cup
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