Should footballers older than 23 not play for their national team?

Martin Macdonald

• 20 Oct 2025 11:30 CDT
• 2 min read

News

For as long as club football and international football has co-existed, there have been disagreements over player commitments.

As professional footballers, players are largely paid by their clubs and although they previously received money for international football as well, they don't receive salaries anymore.

Bonuses and other incentives are not uncommon, but clubs are responsible for paying players to make a living.

That has led constant disagreements between club and country as to whether a player should be called up to international squads if they have been injured, for example. Just this past week alone, Barcelona spoke out against Spain after winger Lamine Yamal was called up to play for La Roja despite struggling recently with a groin issue.

Outspoken Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis reckons he has a solution - only players 23 or younger should be called up by national teams.

“Europe must change because the time has come,” De Laurentiis told Class CNBC.

“The football chiefs are reluctant to change because they fear losing their seat. On which they sit very, very comfortably. But the time has come to change both the game’s rules and the leagues’ formats.

“There are too many games, and I think footballers will no longer be able to play 50, 60 or 70 games [per season].

“They haven’t understood that there should be a cap for international players. After you’ve turned 23, you can no longer go with the national team, because you have to discover the new ones.

“If you even play those who are over-30, and they get injured, you are kicking the domestic leagues in the shins, and there’s no respect for these leagues.

“Furthermore, there isn’t sufficient fee for the loan of a player who, for 12 months, is paid by clubs. This should also be regulated.”

The relationship between clubs, UEFA and FIFA is arguably at an all-time low as new fixtures are seemingly being added to the calendar on a yearly basis.

Within the past few years, UEFA has introduced the UEFA Nations League during international breaks, while FIFA relaunched the Club World Cup with a new 32-team summer tournament which took place in the summer of 2025.

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