While on vacation in December 2022, Manuel Neuer had a serious injury while skiing. He hasn’t been able to play for Bayern Munich or the German national team since. Top teams are on high alert after an incident like this. They don’t want to lose their players to risky activities like this, especially amid a demanding schedule of games. According to SPORT, some teams have included various conditions in player contracts in an effort to prevent similar accidents, including Barcelona.
No Dangerous Sports Allowed in Barcelona
The club has stopped Gerard Pique from arriving for practice and games on a bicycle. It was a renowned habit of his. Players may no longer commute on bicycles or motorcycles.
Additionally, they have outlawed risky leisure pursuits like paragliding, skydiving, skating, and, of course, skiing.
In addition, several players have participated in the racket sport of padel during the past few seasons. Barcelona has also chosen to cease doing it since they think it has resulted in several muscular strains and knocks.
Barcelona Athletic, the handball, basketball, and futsal teams have had these provisions extended to them.
Reason Behind the Clause
Over time, the study found that additional activities have been added to this clause, even though it has been in effect for a while.
Barcelona is adding numerous levels to this provision for a good reason. Over the past few seasons, a number of significant players have had mid- to long-term injuries. These injuries have prevented them from playing in pivotal matches.
In particular, when players like Andreas Christensen, Pedri, Ronald Araujo, and Ousmane Dembele were injured during the Champions League group stages and later the Europa League knockout rounds, they were eliminated from both tournaments.
Due to this, Barça is very careful about injuries that are attributed to the medical staff and does not want to take any chances.
