Kevin Palmer: International football has a problem that needs to be fixed

Sunday World

a day ago

No one really wants to look at meaningless friendlies any longer
The Uefa Nations League final between Portugal and Spain takes top billing this evening, with Germany taking on France in what should be a cracking match to decide who finishes third in that competition.
England are playing World Cup qualifiers and are turning their thoughts to their latest bid to end their long trophy wait, under new manager Thomas Tuchel.
Meanwhile, Ireland are playing friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg as they wait for the real action to get underway in the autumn.
Ireland's four-team group featuring Portugal, Hungary and Armenia will be played out in just 71 days from September to November.
The reign of manager Heimir Hallgrimsson is set to be judged on qualifiers that start with what will be a must-win game against Hungary in Dublin on September 6.
Yet as the international window meanders through this weekend and into next week, it's hard to get the pulse ticking for friendly matches that feel like a relic of football's past.
Ireland matches were unmissable occasions in the 1990s and early 2000s, with big crowds at the old Lansdowne Road backed up by bumper viewing figures for RTÉ.
Back then, we didn't have the volume of football content coming out of our TVs from all over the world every day, so the novelty factor remained in place for live matches on network television.
This is a very different era, with the selection of international fixtures available to us through a variety of streaming platforms this weekend offering strong evidence that quantity now feels like it is being placed ahead of quality.
Hallgrimsson and his coaching staff will view Friday's match against Senegal in Dublin and the fixture against Luxembourg on Tuesday night as hugely valuable preludes to the World Cup qualifiers in the autumn.
The trouble is convincing the rest of us that we need to watch non-competitive matches at a time when other sports are taking centre stage.
International football needs to ensure it protects its significance in the sport as the balance of power in the game has changed significantly in recent years, with rich and powerful owners of Europe's top clubs now holding most of the aces when debates over the future of the game are raised.
So while the World Cup, European Championships and other major international tournaments will always remain at the heart of the beautiful game, mid-season internationals could be threatened if clubs are united in their demand for change.
International breaks in September, October, November and March are always a source of annoyance for club managers who send their star players away on international duty knowing they are a big injury or two away from their own season being destroyed.
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was an outspoken critic of international breaks, while Arsene Wenger often voiced his belief that clubs would eventually try and force authorities to reduce the number of them during the club season during his reign as Arsenal manager.
Wenger is now a key figure at Fifa, so his views on this subject may well have shifted, but the time has surely come for international matches lacking any competitive relevance to be removed from the crowded fixture list.
There was scepticism over the Uefa Nations League when that competition was initially unveiled, but it has played a big role in ending the flat and often lifeless experience that is an international friendly and fans want to watch a match the counts for something.
Sport is all about the winners and losers and when the result offers no reward to the victor, it is hard for the players and fans to find the enthusiasm to embrace the occasion.
Finding a solution to this problem will not be easy, with football politics and the conflicting interests of Fifa and Uefa clashing in a few areas this summer.
Uefa's eagerness to make their Nations League finals a showpiece occasion in June has ensured that four of Europe's big teams are contesting their own competition this weekend.
Yet it feels like an opportunity is being missed to turn this international break into the highlight of the year in non-tournament summers.
Ireland's six matches in Group F qualifying will be squeezed into the three international breaks at the back end of 2025, but imagine a reworked schedule that would see all of those fixtures played this month
This would allow managers and players to get a sense of what to expect when they play in a major tournament, as they may be together for three weeks to play the six qualifiers.
Ireland boss Hallgrimsson could look to find a settled team, without the prospect of long breaks between fixtures where players face big challenges at their club and may pick up injuries.
In addition, fans could buy tickets for all three of Ireland's home matches and feel part of the story.
This would allow international breaks during the club season to be reduced or even removed from the fixture list, allowing players to have a longer summer break as league seasons could start later.
This plan would need another inventive restructuring of the football calendar, with Fifa's expanded World Club Cup starting next weekend and requiring the services of the big-name players who are playing for their nations this weekend.
Yet it is hard to convince any of us that Tuesday's friendly between Luxembourg and Ireland is a game any of us needs to ink into our diaries, with international football still serving up fixtures we could do without.