“A club pays you a lot of money” – Former Real Madrid star slams Courtois for ‘silly whining’ against UEFA 

The last few days have seen Belgium and Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois slam both UEFA and FIFA. The player made scathing criticisms concerning poor player welfare. He cited the growing football calendar and the increased number of games being played this year. He has also accused organizations of setting up these competitions purely for money.

However, former Real Madrid and Netherlands star Rafael van der Vaart has lashed out at Courtois for these statements. He explained that the Real Madrid goalkeeper had no reason to complain:

"I think it's nonsense. Then you have six months off. You play football, a club pays you a lot of money... of course the fixtures come around often, we've all been there. Competition is the most fun there is, these players are just whining."

The criticism against Thibaut Courtois comes after the Real Madrid goalkeeper lashed out at UEFA and FIFA after Belgium's game against Italy for third place. Not holding back, Courtois claimed the third-place play-off match happened just for money:

"We only play it because it means extra money for UEFA. Look how much the line-ups have changed. If both teams had been in the final, other players would have played in the final. It just shows that we play too many games."

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Nobody cares about us: Real Madrid star Thibaut Courtois

Finland v Belgium - UEFA Euro 2020: Group B

Courtois has recently raised worries about the football calendar and how little time there is for rest. He also raised issues with injuries affecting footballers:

“We are not robots. It’s just more and more games and less rest for us and nobody cares about us. When will we get a rest? Never. Next year we have a World Cup in November, we have to play maybe until the latter stages of June again. We will get injured. 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.”

The Real Madrid star also made it clear that both organizations just wanted more money, adding:

“They are against Super League but they just do the same, they put extra games. They made an extra trophy. It is always the same, 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.”