FILE PHOTO: Jun 15, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; FC Porto forward Pepe (11) controls the ball during a group stage match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup against SE Palmeiras at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images/File Photo
(Reuters) -Portuguese side Porto struggled to recruit players ahead of FIFA's expanded Club World Cup, with transfer targets turning down moves specifically to avoid the tournament's additional fixture burden, club president Andre Villas-Boas said.
FIFA had given leagues the option to open the transfer window between June 1-10 so participating clubs could sign players before the month-long tournament in the United States.
"We tested the market recently, so we had a special transfer window from June 1-10 where the Club World Cup clubs operated. It was incredible to see that a lot of football players didn't want to be in the competition," Villas-Boas told Men in Blazers.
"They prefer to rest in order to start afresh in the new season. So this is actually outstanding as well because FIFPRO (the global players' union) is demanding more rest for the players."
A FIFPRO study concluded that a four-week off-season break should be mandatory for professional soccer players.
"With the World Cup coming in America next season (2026), it's an even bigger competition -- more teams, probably 1,200 athletes in one competition," he added.
"So the calendar is becoming exhausting and we have more injuries... The players can't put on a good spectacle if they are not fresh."
Villas-Boas, a former manager at clubs like Porto, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, also said that the expanded 32-team tournament comes at a "very bad time" for European clubs who wrapped up an exhausting season in May.
Porto drew 0-0 with Palmeiras in their opening group game where the Brazilian side dominated the contest but were unable to find a breakthrough.
"A few of us (European clubs) have had to give a vacation to the players, then we have to bring them back early without time enough for them to reset," Villas-Boas said.
"So for us, we are like in a continuation of the last season. And whatever happens after this tournament, the new season is coming, so they never actually have the reset that they need (going) into a new season."
Porto will next play Lionel Messi's Inter Miami on Thursday.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
