'Joke of the year': Bayern's Hoeness slams Nations League and calendar
· Yahoo Sports
Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness has criticized football governing bodies over the international match calendar as he claimed that his club was suffering the most from it.
Hoeness said on Bild TV on Sunday that some Bayern players got little rest between the end of the World Cup and the start of the new season which was then featured a three-week international window for the first time.
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"We are the ones who have suffered the most from this long World Cup. Our players returned very late and then had to go on holiday," Hoeness said.
Bayern stars Harry Kane, Dayot Upamecano and Michael Olise were involved until the final weekend of the World Cup July 18/19. Bayern's first official match was the German Super Cup on August 21 and they started the Bundesliga on August 28.
Hoeness was also not pleased about the long international window for Nations League matches which started on September 21. The longer window replaced the separate international breaks in early September and mid-October.
"I think it is a disaster on UEFA's part to take a break just four weeks after the Bundesliga season begins. We had 18 players away on international duty, so it's perfectly normal for them to lose their rhythm," he said.
Hoeness said that the clubs would have to "finally stand up for themselves," because it is them, not the national teams, that pay the players.
"And a ridiculous competition like the Nations League is being introduced here, which is the joke of the year," he said.
Bayern president Herbert Hainer agreed, saying: "Uli Hoeness is certainly right about that. I don't think any other team has been under as much strain in the Bundesliga, but also internationally, as we have, because we have almost exclusively international players who were all away with their teams during the summer.
Hainer said that Nations League appearances and all the travelling are taking a toll on the professionals, which "you could probably see" in Bayern's 2-2 Bundesliga draw at Augsburg on Saturday.
"In that respect, I absolutely agree with Uli Hoeness. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that, at the end of the day, what matters is who is at the top in the end, and that will be FC Bayern," Hainer added.