IS THERE TOO MUCH SPORT?

In this series, The Straits Times takes a deep dive into the hottest sports topic or debate of the hour. From Lamine Yamal’s status as the next big thing to the burgeoning popularity of pickleball, we'll ask The Big Question that will set you thinking, and talking.

- Dilenjit Singh

Too long, too hard, too intense. In recent years, the complaints have become louder and fiercer, as professional athletes feel the impact of an ever-increasing number of events, races and tournaments in a packed sporting calendar.

In a sporting world driven by cash and clout, the phenomenon has spread across different sports - tennis, golf, motor racing and football, among others.

In 2015, Formula One hosted 19 grands prix. A decade on, there are currently a record 24 races in five continents around the world.

Tennis made its already gruelling 11-month schedule even more punishing by increasing the field and stretching out more of its 1000-level events - the highest level of the sport after Grand Slams and Tour Finals - from a week to 12 days.

The advent of the NBA Cup in 2023 added just one extra game to the National Basketball Association (NBA) calendar, but it is already a packed six-month, 82game regular-season slog with back-to-back games.

Football, the world's most lucrative sport, is probably the biggest culprit. A proxy war between its most powerful continental association Uefa and global governing body Fifa helped birth the latest addition to elite football's packed schedule with the 32-team, 63match Club World Cup, which took place in June and July.

Football's epicentre, Europe, meanwhile, revamped the format of its golden goose last season, increasing the number of Champions League matches per season from 125 to 189, meaning the winners will play up to 17 games.

Ballon d'Or winner in 2024 Rodri warned last September that players were close to going on strike in protest, adding "if it keeps this way, it will be a moment that we have no other option".

While that has not come to pass, players' union Fifpro has been scathing in its criticism. Said highperformance expert and Fifpro consultant Dr Darren Burgess: "You've got the perfect storm of how not to treat a human."