The players had their hearts in the right place, and the fatigue of continuous play weighed on them like a mountain.
On April 16, Macron revealed in an RMC interview that he will do everything in his power to build a battle-tested French national Olympic team with a view to competing for gold in the men's Olympic soccer tournament.
We will certainly give our best to create a competitive team. I have full confidence in the clubs in France and in Europe, but the problem is that the Europa League is not over yet. I think the clubs should be actively involved in order to present a great tournament, which is one of my concerns.
Speaking about whether Mbappe, an overage player, will be able to represent France at the Olympics, Macron said: I haven't talked to him about it yet, but I hope his club will let him participate in the Olympics.
Asked if he was referring to Real Madrid - Mbappe's most promising club - Macron smiled and replied: yes, when I refer to European clubs, that's what I mean. Of course, the players also have to consider their workload and their training program because we still have the Europa League. I hope that France will participate in the final on July 14th.
Macron with Mbappe Photo credit: ESPN
Macron's words are exactly what many French people are looking forward to: hosting the Olympic Games in Paris, led by the popular fry Mbappe, the French national Olympic team to the gold medal. However, the reality does not seem to be so beautiful: a year ago, just assumed the position of captain of the French team, Mbappe, this summer's most important task is to impact the European Cup title, get rid of the French team in the first round of the last European Cup was eliminated by Switzerland on penalties, the embarrassment. The first match of the French national Olympics is scheduled for July 24 against the U.S. national Olympics. This means that if the French team successfully killed the final of the European Cup, Mbappe again need to gallop to the National Olympics, counting from the road, adaptation, and joint training, leaving the preparation time for the first person in the soccer world is only ten days left. Coupled with the pre-season at club level, the French captain is afraid that this summer will have to work back-to-back.
Pedri, who competed in the Euros and Olympics two years in a row Photo credit: footballdevils
In recent years, injuries to players have gotten worse as club and national team fixtures have become more intense. Injuries to players have reached an even higher level in 2021, the year in which Euro 2019 and the Olympics will be held (the 2021-2022 season in the soccer world).
According to a survey released by Howden, player injuries in Europe's top five leagues have risen significantly in recent years, with the Premier League being one of the most victimized.There were 4,810 injuries to players in Europe's top five leagues in the 2021-2022 season, which is an increase of 20% compared to the previous season. Of these, the Premier League accounted for a quarter of the total.
The safest Ligue 1 had a total of only 691 injuries, but Grand Paris alone, with the most international players, had 91. Real Madrid, who won the La Liga, Champions League and La Liga Supercup treble that season, also paid the price with the highest number of injuries in all of Europe - 114.
Financially, the report claims that injuries cost the big five leagues 513 million (pounds) in the 21-22 season, with the most in Paris at 34.22 million and Real Madrid at 33.95 million. League-wise, the Premier League topped the table with 185 million losses, while La Liga came in second with 109 million. The last Euro+Olympic tournament year, 2021-22, saw a record number of injuries to young players in the top five leagues Photo credit: Howden
Overall, the likelihood of player injuries is higher in a playing year with more and more intensive national team fixtures; meanwhile, clubs with more international players are more significantly affected by injuries.
While muscle problems account for the majority of injuries, a serious injury such as an ACL or meniscus can be devastating to a player's career. And the more games played, the greater the risk of injury. Two years ago, De Bruyne had spat about the increasingly intensive tournament schedule: you can't let players play 80 games a year, it's impossible.
Therefore, it doesn't seem unreasonable if an overage player refuses a call-up to the national Olympic team for this reason: it's just too tiring to play consecutive games. With this kind of hidden danger in front of them, whether to release their own players to participate in the Olympic Games or not, for the clubs, both in terms of economy and influence have to consider more. At this point, players, clubs, national teams seem to be difficult to reach a consensus.
Earlier in the day, Macron had said in an interview that he wanted Mbappe to participate in the Olympics, and that he wished all European clubs would release their players to participate in the Olympics like the Ligue 1 clubs, which is the Olympic spirit.
However, on June 4, Beijing time, that is, the French Olympic head coach Henry just announced the Paris Olympic Games 25-man list, and in a press conference swore that: not rejected by any French clubs the day after, the media team newspaper reporter Régis Testelin reported that: Lille and Paris have informed Henry, the two teams in the list of a total of five players will not go to the Olympics.
Olympic men's soccer, the main battlefield for FIFA and the Olympic Committee
Unlike the win-win situation in club competitions, there have been quite serious conflicts and disagreements between FIFA and the IOC over the Olympic soccer program, and the barriers to entry for the event have been changing as a result of the longstanding conflicts and compromises between the two sides.
At the beginning of the 20th century, soccer gradually developed into a professional and commercial sport in Europe, and the concept of professional players came into being. The professional players after a long period of training and competition, its technical and tactical level is significantly higher than the amateur athletes, they landed on the Olympic field, so that the Olympic Games from the exchange of countries, the display of the platform into a pure sense of crushing.
In 1908 and 1912, professional players from England won two consecutive Olympic titles, bringing the controversy over whether to allow professional players to participate in the Olympics to a head.
As for FIFA, the participation of professional players in the Olympic Games will not add any revenue to it and its events, but on the contrary, in the event of injury and fatigue, there is the possibility of affecting its own attention and revenue. However, there was no clear definition of how to differentiate between professional and amateur players. 1912 Team GB Photo: myfootballfacts
In 1977, FIFA decided not to allow players who had played in the previous World Cup to participate in the Olympic Games. Two years later, it was added that any player from Europe and South America who had played in the World Cup would not be allowed to participate in the Olympics, while players from other countries would be exempt.In 1984, this was narrowed down to players from Europe and South America who had played in the World Cup finals...
After a number of changes, FIFA and the Olympic Committee reached a compromise: an age-based division, limiting the age of players participating in the Olympics to under 23, with three overage players per team allowed on the 18-man roster. This is the standard that has been used until now.
Thanks to the policy of over-age players, Pirlo in 2004, Junior and Riquelme in '08, Suarez and Giggs in '12, Neymar in '16... These soccer superstars were also able to appear on the Olympic stage, leading the youngsters to gold medal honors as a leading brother.
The under-23 age limit has also allowed Messi '08, Aguero, Di Maria, Pedri '21... And so on the young and famous young players as the age of the players to shine. It can be said that the current Olympic men's soccer program still solves a lot of problems in terms of setting the bar. The star-studded '08 Argentine Olympic team Photo: sportingnews
However, the problem of standards has been solved; the problem of people has not.
According to FIFA's regulations, during the cycle of several international match days announced in advance each year (or during the cycle of major tournaments it hosts - such as the World Cup final round), once a player's national team has called up a player, the club must release the player to the national team in advance, or else the player will be penalized by FIFA (provided that the player's national team is under the FIFA's jurisdiction).
In this context, very few clubs will keep a player in the team despite the penalty, but only release him, even though he may come back with a serious injury that will affect the club's performance and even its income. Gavi's injury to the national team last November is a case in point: Barcelona, already short of players, were furious, but could only protest in vain. Gavi suffered a serious ACL injury on an international day Photo: tribuna
In FIFA's schedule, the Olympic men's soccer tournament is not included in the official schedule. In other words, the clubs to which the players belong will be able to refuse to release them in this tournament, which is of the nature of a friendly match.
Spanish newspaper Marca and the French team newspaper revealed in mid-March: Real Madrid has clearly told the players and sent a letter to the French Football Federation and other institutions: if the player has played the Europa League / Copa America, (the club) will not release the player to participate in the Olympic men's football tournament - whether as the age of the player or overage players, the club's attitude is quite firm. The club's attitude towards this is quite firm. After all, with four fronts this season, the Club World Cup next season and the pre-season starting in July... In case a player gets injured in the Olympics, the club can't accept that.
And this is still not taking into account the individual will of the players, in the professional soccer has been fully developed, the World Cup than the Olympic Games as one of the world's top sporting events IP, supplemented by the influence of the Champions League, Europa League, America's Cup and other tournaments, the attraction of the Olympic Games gold medals to the players is gradually reduced, the players who are not willing to go to the players, but also can actively refuse to go. For Japan, rising star Ei Kukai, who is currently of age, has made it clear that he has little motivation to participate in the Olympics, and fully understands if his club won't let him attend.
Back to Mbappe, a few weeks ago when Mbappe announced his departure from the team, the industry's well-known journalist Romano said that Mbappe joined Real Madrid this summer as early as February has been the basic negotiation, is about to HERE WE GO state. Mbappe social media screenshot
However, from the turtle since the announcement of the departure of the team, has been subjected to public opinion ten thousand expectations of Real Madrid is not in a hurry: Marca reported that Real Madrid, although it has reached an agreement with Mbappe, but did not make an official announcement before the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund, but waited until this point in time to confirm to the fans to the players to join the team. Meanwhile, Marca reiterates that Real Madrid clearly do not want Mbappe to play in the Olympics.
Now, when Mbappe according to the plan as scheduled to join the attitude of so tough Real Madrid... On the one hand, the high expectations of his country from the president down to the people, on the other hand, the club's strict refusal, we finally could not see his figure in the Olympic Games. Photo: Mailliots Foot Actu
FIFA virus and Olympic virus, is there a cure?
Everything is ultimately an economic issue - and the issue regarding national team call-ups is complex to say the least, and simple enough to say the least. To solve the problem, it still comes down to money.
Soccer fans are probably familiar with the term FIFA virus: many inspirational stories of small and medium-sized teams beating the big boys come at a time when international players returning from international matchdays are either carrying injuries or exhausted, and clubs' results can take a serious hit as a result.
However, international competitions have to be held, and FIFA, as the organizer and administrator, won't let the clubs and fans dry out: in the case of the World Cup in Qatar, for example, FIFA distributed a total of $209 million (£169.1 million) in World Cup compensation to clubs after the tournament to compensate and thank them for their support in hosting the World Cup.
The money is based on all 837 players who took part in the World Cup in Qatar and were paid on a per-day basis for the tournament, which took place from November 20 to December 18, 2022, while FIFA paid clubs $10,950 (£9,388) per day for each player. Photo credit: FIFA
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said such an indemnity clause would continue to be expanded to $355 million for the next two World Cups, bringing home the importance of the role played by clubs.
With FIFA's financial backing, there is naturally no reason for clubs not to release their players to participate. This may be a small amount of money for the giants, but it could be life-saving funds for small and medium-sized teams, such as Wigan Athletic in the English League, Cardiff City and Swansea in the Championship, who also benefit from it and share a lot of money.
In contrast, back at the Olympics, whose men's soccer program is itself the opposite of the World Cup - a tournament with a skewed amateurism orientation - it's only natural that the Olympic Committee wouldn't shell out more money for the clubs from which the players come.
Also the hidden problem is that the number of athletes from each country participating in the Olympics far exceeds the number of athletes in the World Cup, so if compensation is paid to men's soccer, is it paid to women's soccer? For athletes in other sports, or even all sports (if they belong to professional organizations)?... Unless there is an unlimited budget, at the moment, considering fairness and many other issues, this financial account of the Olympic Committee is not really understandable. After all, one of the key principles of the Olympics is fairness.
It is worth mentioning that due to the late start and limited development level of women's soccer in the world, the Olympic Games have not been subjected to too many difficulties on the issue of professionalism, and basically participate in the adult national team.
In recent years, women's soccer has seen rapid development, and the Women's World Cup has become one of the most watched women's sporting events in the world, with budgets, revenues, and influence rising, the Olympic women's soccer team's path to men's soccer seems imminent.23 Women's World Cup winners: Spain Photo credit: CNN
In fact, whether it's the FIFA virus or the Olympic virus, most of the things concerning professional athletes are not beyond the reach of economic solutions, and in this regard, FIFA has done a significantly better job than the IOC.
It is not impossible that the long-established Olympic Games will make changes in the future in order to solve the conflicts between clubs, players and international events. We look forward to this change coming soon, after all, spectators want to see more exciting performances in the tournament, don't they?
