DBasia.news – Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has been in the spotlight for his recent remarks to reporters at the UEFA Nations League. He openly criticized UEFA currency.
UEFA as the European Football Federation was criticized for placing money over the health of players by Courtois. The Real Madrid goalkeeper said so in the race for third place in the UEFA Nations League.
Belgium lost 2-3 to France in the Nations League semifinals, then lost 1-2 to Italy in the race for third place. It was the struggle for third place that Courtois said was useless, having no essence other than the duel of the two great nations.
“This game (for third place) is just a money game, we have to be honest about that,” Courtois told Sky Sports. “We only play it because for UEFA it’s extra money and it’s extra play on TV.”
“Okay, for us it’s a good game because it’s against Italy and for Italy it’s a good game because it’s against Belgium, but look how much both teams change their players – if we were both in the final, there would be other players playing.”
Courtois’ comments are also supported by the fact that his two compatriots Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku were sidelined through injury. Both conditions ordain the words of the 29-year-old goalkeeper regarding the busy schedule of matches.
“It just shows that we played too much. Next year we have the World Cup in November, we may have to play until the final stages of June again. We will get injured and no one cares about the players anymore,” Courtois said.
“After a long season we have to play four more games in the Nations League, we will have two weeks off and that is not enough for the players to be able to continue playing 12 months at the highest level.”
“If we never say anything, it will always be the same. They (UEFA) can be angry about another team making the Super League but they don’t care about the players, they only care about their pockets.”
Football pundit Jamie Carragher appreciated Courtois with his remarks. “Great interview Courtois, everything he says is true, especially for the third place play-off tournament, a waste of time.”
UEFA seemed to answer Courtois’ questions and once told BBC Sport that the income from the Nations League does not go into UEFA’s pockets.
“The Nations League does not increase the total number of matches played by national teams. These are played on international match calendar dates.”
“His introduction was meant to support national team football with meaningful, balanced and interesting matches at all levels, which is actually the case because all teams have goals they want to achieve in the competition.”
“UEFA does not retain any revenue from the Nations League, which is wholly redistributed to its national associations. This income funds the organization and promotion of football throughout Europe.”