Crystal Palace: Oliver Glasner confirms request for match to be rescheduled as UEFA blamed for fixture pile-up | OneFootball

Palace are scheduled to play four games in the space of nine days in December

Oliver Glasner has claimed that UEFA are prioritising money over player welfare as the debate over Crystal Palace’s fixture pile-up rages on.

It was announced on Monday that Palace’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal would be played on December 23, just two days after the Eagles are due to travel to Leeds in the Premier League.

Glasner, who confirmed the club were trying to move their game with Leeds to Saturday, December 20, has been left frustrated by the fixture congestion.

In his pre-match press conference ahead of Palace’s Conference League game with AZ Alkmaar, Glasner blamed UEFA for the fixture pile-up, and claimed that there is a hierarchy with regard to which fixtures take priority in the football calendar.

“It's not about the welfare of the players. It's not about talking together and find what's best. Everybody is just looking at himself to maximise the money,” Glasner said.

“And that's the situation. Now we can say it's the UEFA schedule. It was clear this week before Christmas there is the Conference League played.

“And it's clear, 99%, that the English participants will play there. So why fix the Carabao quarter-final there? Why? I just don't understand. Again, it was clear.

“And then I think, maybe somebody corrects me, there is a hierarchy in football. So it's the UEFA games, it's the Premier League games and then I don't know how it's FA or EFL or it's on the same level. And then if there is a UEFA game day, you can't say we play the quarter-final.”

Glasner went on to say the Premier League and EFL were also at fault for the situation and hoped that lessons would be learned for the future.

“They will learn from it and I'm pretty sure that next year they will have the solution before the start of the season.

“So, maybe they needed this experience to solve it and not to rely that this won't happen.”

Frustrated: Oliver Glasner

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Asked why the club wanted to move their game with Leeds to Saturday, Glasner said the decision was taken to have the same number of days of preparation as Arsenal ahead of their quarter-final.

“It’s for us that we have the same situation as Arsenal and our opposition has.

“We don't have the same prerequisites as Leeds, so we have to accept that it's a little bit different. But then we want to have it at least the same (days rest) as Arsenal, that's why we try to move it.

“It's not finding the best way, it's finding the easiest way.”