Marcelo Bielsa criticizes the importance of money: 'Football is becoming less attractive'

At the press conference before the Copa América match between Uruguay and Brazil, Marcelo Bielsa expressed his concerns about the current state of football. The Uruguayan national coach states that football will become increasingly unattractive as long as more and more priority is given to commerce and money.

“Football is getting more and more viewers, but it is becoming less and less attractive,” Bielsa began. “What made this sport the best in the world is no longer a priority today. Then this process will be completed. It doesn't matter how many people watch football, if you don't ensure that what people are presented with is attractive.”

“It will only benefit the business side. That side of football only cares about the number of people watching football. But in a few years, the players who deserve to be watched will get less attention. And the game that is produced will become less attractive. This artificial increase in viewers will come to an end.”

“Football is more than five minutes of highlights. Football is much more than that. It is a cultural expression, a way of identifying. There may be Uruguayans who only watch the highlights of the national team. But that has nothing to do with the essence, the condition for a population to fall in love with the most significant form of identification that people have.”

“I think we should all ignore the scenario they are presenting to us. The controversy, the allegations, the determination to find someone to blame becomes an obsession that deteriorates the atmosphere in which football should be played,” said Bielsa, also known as the Loco (the fool).

Bielsas Uruguay has impressed with his performance at the Copa América. The Celestial won with very decent play in the group stage against Panama (3-1), Bolivia (5-0) and the United States (0-1). In the quarterfinals against Brazil, both teams were disappointing. Nevertheless, the ten Uruguayans (Nahitan Nández got a red card) managed to keep a clean sheet and beat Brazil on penalties.

In the Copa semi-final, Uruguay will face Colombia, who have perhaps made the biggest impression of all the teams. In the other semi-final, title favourites Argentina will face stunt team Canada.

Always stay up to date with the most important football news? Join the Voetbalzone WhatsApp channel now!

More news





More sports news