Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has slammed UEFA and FIFA for treating professional players 'like puppets' over their management of the football calendar.
Despite this season's schedule having been severely compacted by the coronavirus pandemic, UEFA's Nations League fixtures have continued to fill international breaks.
Talk of a new FIFA-led European Super League that would feature more games than the current Champions League format has also re-emerged in recent weeks.
And Kroos is unhappy that further strain is being placed upon players at a time when they are already being pushed to the limit.
READ MORE:
Injuries are avoidable - we need to start protecting footballers
We are killing players - the coronavirus crisis has put the football calendar into sharp focus
Preventing injuries is football's next data evolution
"It's clear with these new invented competitions, we're simply puppets for both FIFA and UEFA," he told Bild.
"New competitions are devised such as the Nations League or the expansion of the Club World Cup to maximise profit and in doing so it's simply pushing players to new physical limits."
On the topic of a European Super League replacing the Champions League specifically, he added: "Sometimes it's best to leave things as they are."
Toni Kroos 
Real Madrid 
