Players in Brazilian domestic leagues have banded together to protest at the length of their football season and punishing fixture congestion.

Players in all seven games on Wednesday night crossed their arms at the start of the game and refused to play for several moments while others, who had been threatened with a booking, just passed the ball back and forth between one another.

Corinthians defender Paulo Andre, one of the leaders of the protest, said the players won’t stop until the Brazilian Football Federation took their demands seriously.

‘We will escalate the protests if the federation doesn’t respond,’ said Andre.

The players are demanding longer breaks and longer preseason with more input to major decisions.

The Brazilian federation, known as the CBF, have said they will take the players demands into consideration when preparing the calendars for next season.