Barcelona affected by international break; Laporta urges FIFA scheduling changes

In partnership with

Sempre Barca

·3. April 2026

Barcelona affected by international break; Laporta urges FIFA scheduling changes

The March international break, which has already come to an end, proved to be quite a costly affair for FC Barcelona. The Blaugrana club saw one of its most important players, Raphinha, getting injured, and that too only in a friendly game between Brazil and France.

There is no doubt about the importance of the Brazilian forward for the Catalan team, and this episode has left a lot of Barcelona fans frustrated. Furthermore, the president-elect of the club, Joan Laporta, was also not too happy with this situation.

OneFootball Videos

As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the president-elect expressed his frustration on the matter in a recent interview with Mon Esport. Answering a question about Raphinha’s injury, Laporta said:

“In some way, we should request that FIFA create an international calendar that considers the competitions of the most important clubs. It is true that in a friendly match between France and Brazil in the United States, losing one of your best players is very frustrating. And clearly, you cannot blame the player for not playing, because they are professionals and are representing their country, giving everything. And that is normal.”

Hopefully, the clubs can arrive at an agreement with FIFA to avoid such problems in the future. But for now, Raphinha’s injury is a part of reality, and Hansi Flick will have to come up with a plan to minimize its impact as Barcelona fight for the biggest titles at the end of this season.