https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/jan/17/womens-football-ready-for-next-step-but-players-need-help-moving-the-goalposts-ada-hegerberg

'I am looking forward to 2024 but was shocked to see a Fifa window for games in mid-July. There has to be a better solution'.

'Sometimes this world of football still manages to shock me. I was shocked when I saw the 2024 international match calendar – and I was not the only one. Many of us have had to compete in back-to-back summer tournaments in with the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the Euros in 2022 and then the World Cup in 2023. This year it’s the Olympics again for some teams, so to see a Fifa window for games in the middle of July was frustrating to say the least.'

'Obviously, some teams will be competing at the Olympics but not all of us. Many were looking at this summer as a summer of liberation – for our bodies and our minds. But no.'

'A lot has been made about the intensity of our match calendars and the impact on players who are not given a proper environment for the demands of so many matches, yet here we are, ready to play anywhere between 50 to 60 matches, with games to be played in every month of the year. The decision-making is worrying to say the least. I will be told there was no other month for it, but I do firmly believe a good problem solver can find a way around any matter.'

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