Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has suggested a bizarre solution to football’s congested fixture schedule.
During an interview at the National Italian American Foundation Gala in Washington, the 76-year-old called for changes to the structure of football competitions and the rules governing player participation.
The outspoken Napoli chief is convinced that the current football calendar is unsustainable, and insists that players are being pushed beyond their limits.
“Europe must change because the time has come,” De Laurentiis told Class CNBC. “The football chiefs are reluctant to change because they fear losing their seat. On which they sit very, very comfortably.
“But the time has come to change both the game’s rules and the leagues’ formats.”
De Laurentiis is concerned about the number of games players are forced to play.
With club campaigns and international tournaments crowding the schedule, De Laurentiis warned that the physical demands on footballers are reaching a breaking point.
He argues that ‘there are too many games’ and that ‘footballers will no longer be able to play 50, 60 or 70 games [per season]’, which birthed one of his most controversial ideas to date.
To combat the issue, the Napoli chief has suggested that football’s governing bodies set an age cap that stops players from representing their national teams once they’re above the age of 23.
“They haven’t understood that there should be a cap for international players,” he added. “After you’ve turned 23, you can no longer go with the national team, because you have to discover the new ones.
“If you even play those who are over-30, and they get injured, you are kicking the domestic leagues in the shins, and there’s no respect for these leagues.”
De Laurentiis’ comments come as Napoli are looking to defend their Serie A title.
Manager Antonio Conte pulled off a miracle to help the Partenopei win the Scudetto for the second time in three years. That outstanding achievement made Napoli early favourites to retain the title.
While they’re still firmly in the mix, they now have to fend off serious competition from AC Milan, Inter Milan and AS Roma.
