Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois hit out at UEFA and FIFA after his country’s 2-1 defeat to Italy in the Nations League third-place play-off.

Having described the match as ‘pointless’ beforehand, Courtois was part of a much-changed Belgium side which did not include Eden Hazard or Romelu Lukaku due to injury.

Courtois has already played 14 games for club and country this season

He did not see the point of a third-place play-off on Sunday
Italy also made numerous changes – and Courtois described the match as a money-grabbing scheme by UEFA which ignores player welfare.

“This game is just a money game and we have to be honest about it,” said Courtois in a stinging criticism of the game’s governing bodies.

“We just play it because for UEFA it’s extra money.

“Look at how much both teams changed [line-ups]. If both teams would have been in the final there would have been other players in the final playing.

“This just shows that we play too many games.”

????️ "They don't care about the players they just care about their pockets."

Thibaut Courtois accused UEFA and FIFA of prioritising money over player welfare after Belgium were beaten 2-1 by Italy in the Nations League third-place play-off. pic.twitter.com/0RbBu0Ux6h

Under proposals forwarded by Arsene Wenger, there would be a major tournament every summer and fewer qualifying matches, although UEFA remains opposed to the idea.

“They [UEFA] made an extra trophy [UEFA Conference League]… it is always the same,” Courtois said.

“They can be angry about other teams wanting a Super League but they don’t care about the players, they just care about their pockets.

“It’s a bad thing that players are not spoken about. And, now you hear about a European Championship and a World Cup every year, when will we get a rest? Never.”

Courtois delivered a damning assessment of the global football calendar
And the former Chelsea star insists more injuries will be inevitable unless somebody speaks up for the players.

Courtois added: “So in the end top players will get injured and injured and injured. It’s something that should be much better and much more taken care of.

“We are not robots! It’s just more and more games and less rest for us and nobody cares about us.

“Next year we have a World Cup in November, we have to play until the latter stages of June again. We will get injured! Nobody cares about the players anymore.

“Three weeks of holiday is not enough for players to be able to continue for 12 months at the highest level. If we never say anything it [will be] always the same.”

Source: Talk Sport