Fifa and Uefa taken to task over national duty injuries

Europe's largest representative body of clubs - which was attended by Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen and Hearts - said it could no longer run the risk of players picking up injuries on international duty.

"Fifa and Uefa have to care about our players," said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of the 197-strong European Club Association. "It is no longer acceptable that we have to give up our players ... and then they come back injured."

The Scottish Football Association already pays compensation to those clubs who lose a player through injury on international duty, and the ECA would like to see all other nations following this example.

Although Fifa compensated clubs for the use of their players during the World Cup, this was mainly to cover salaries on a daily basis rather than take account of injuries.

The world governing body has also moved international double-headers from Saturday and Wednesday to Friday and Tuesday in order for players to get back to their clubs in decent time for weekend domestic games. But neither measure, according to Rummenigge, goes far enough. "If I rent a car I have to bring it back clean as if it was unused," he said. "With players we have to give them up yet have to pay, twice over if you like, when we get them back injured."

Tottenham will be without their captain Michael Dawson for up to eight weeks after the central defender was stretchered off against Bulgaria last Friday while Rummenigge's own club, Bayern Munich, will be missing former Chelsea winger Arjen Robben for possibly the rest of the year.

"Robben is a classic case of a player going to the World Cup already injured and coming back in a worse condition and now we have to pay the bill," he said.

Rummenigge said insurance packages must cover all international fixtures, including friendlies and youth games, and ideally all European-based players even if they are from other continents.

Uefa, he said, was the best outlet for bringing about some kind of firm agreement in the hope that Fifa would follow suit and change its statutes, which currently insist that clubs have to insure their own players at all times.

At a news conference following its two-day annual meeting, the ECA also called on Fifa to scrap worthless internationals and give greater priority to the well-being of players.

Coaches from across Europe, most vociferously Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, were furious at losing their international players for a programme of friendlies last month just as they were preparing for the new domestic season.

"We will intervene more and more in the international match calendar," said Rummenigge. "Some countries are already playing their third series of internationals since the World Cup. We need deep discussions to find a solution. Federations like Fifa need to recognise that the players are our employees and we have to be involved in these kinds of discussions.

"The August friendly date was a nonsense. We have to make Fifa understand that certain things don't make sense. We have to discuss this with Mr (Sepp) Blatter and his colleagues in order to do something for the good of football."

Meanwhile, Rangers director John McClelland remains third vice-chairman of the revamped 15-strong ECA board, and Manchester United chief executive David Gill retains his position by switching from a regular board member to take up a place on Uefa's influential Professional Football Strategy Council.