FIFA President Sepp Blatter believes the long European soccer season is causing some of the world’s top players to get hurt before the World Cup.
He said that it’s “too long a season and always the same players are always in the same competitions,” according to the Associated Press.
“Now they are tired,” he continued.
As he noted, France’s Franck Ribery and Germany’s Marco Reus are out of the tournament. Portugal’s Christiano Ronaldo has been nursing an injury while Lionel Messi of Argentina has been sluggish.
The World Cup begins on Thursday.