The president of the German federation (DFB) has defended the international football calendar, saying it is better to interrupt the domestic leagues now than it would be in April or May.

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said the international calendar had “become catastrophic,” saying that teams do not get a chance to get into a rhythm before the league is disrupted again.

DFB president Reinhard Grindel says time must be found for World Cup and European Championship qualifiers and he believes the current system, with two matchdays in September, October and November and another two in March, is the best solution.

“I can totally understand Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, but if we had these interruptions in this regularity in the second half of the season, at the business end of the season, then it would be far more dramatic,” he told Sport1 television.

“That is why I would say it does make sense to say we’d rather put another (international) matchday in now than one in a phase when the leagues and Champions League are slowly getting going.

“If you look at the calendar I don’t think you can say that no attention is paid to the clubs. We don’t have any interruptions in the decisive phase of the season and I think that is understandable, but we wouldn’t ignore any better suggestions, if anybody were to have any.”

Germany continued their World Cup qualifying campaign with an 8-0 win in San Marino on Friday and they face Italy in a friendly in Milan tomorrow.

Players will then report back to their clubs on Wednesday, ahead of the next round of Bundesliga fixtures which gets under way with Bayer Leverkusen hosting Leipzig on Friday night.