Barcelona and Spain legend Gerard Pique has warned football to adapt to appeal to a younger audience and reveals the one rule he would change to move the game forward.
Arguably one of the greatest defenders of all time, Pique has enjoyed continued success with both Barcelona and Spain, winning the 2010 World Cup between the 2008 and 2012 European Championships.
For his club, he was the veteran of nine LaLiga title-winning campaigns, winning the Champions League four times and the Copa Del Rey a further seven times, as well as winning the Premier League with Manchester United.
He hung up his boots in November 2022, but has now spearheaded a number of projects in the sport, including forming the Kings League, combining the worlds of Twitch streaming and elite football in a five-a-side five-tournament.
As such, the Spanish legend is a figure who has not been shy about exploring the need for progress, and has now revealed how he thinks football needs to change if it is to capture the attention of younger audiences.
Gerard Pique retired in November 2022 after a legendary career with both Barcelona and Spain
He spent the vast majority of his career with the Catalan giants, apart from four years at Manchester United from 2004 to 2008.
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‘One of the reasons we created the Kings League is because I saw my kids watching a football match and after ten minutes on their phones and tablets they were watching other things at the same time.,’ he told The times.
‘Football is entertainment, so it is not just a competition with other sports. It competes with Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, TikTok. Everyone has limited time. Playing football for 90 minutes is not that exciting.’
And when asked if he watches the full 90-minute matches, he added: ‘Not really. (I watched) Barca-Napoli for example, an important match in the Champions League, but the 25th match in the competition (season)? I don’t look at them.
‘A piece of Barça, if I can, but not ninety minutes. Maybe 30 or 40 minutes. It’s a trend, it happens. It can’t be stopped and you have to adapt.’
He also drew on examples from American sports when discussing his second idea for improving football, citing baseball and basketball.
Most sports on the other side of the Atlantic cannot end in a draw, with the game instead going into overtime to determine a winner, and Pique suggested that removing ties would make the sport a more enjoyable product.
‘Maybe there’s no draw, why not? There is no tie in baseball and basketball. You go to a game and it ends with a tie and the feeling is, “Who won?”
‘Football is afraid of change. It has a huge history, it is very traditional, but change will come, it has to happen. A ninety-minute match that can end 0-0 is difficult for the new generation to understand.’
The Spanish legend helped create the Kings League, which combines Twitch streaming and top-level football in five-a-side matches
Pique has spoken openly about football’s need to progress and evolve if it is to retain the attention span of younger audiences.
And when asked whether he might be better placed with lawmakers FIFA and UEFA, he added: ‘Very boring. You can’t change much. With the processes, the committees, it’s a nightmare.’
For example, implementing a similar feature in football could prove unpopular as many teams and managers often express concerns about player welfare due to matchday crowds.
Adding half an hour to the end of ties is likely to prove even less popular.
In addition to founding the Kings League, Pique has also formed a sports media and investment group – Kosmos Holding – and owns FC Andorra in Spain’s Segunda Division.