![\"\"](\"https:\/\/valloni.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Player-Workload-Report-2025.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n The FIFPRO fifth Annual Report, was published on 29 September, 2025, with the title Overworked and Underprotected: The Player Health and Performance Impact<\/em>\u00a0and presents a sobering assessment of the relentless demands of modern football.<\/p>\n The 51-page study covers the 2024\u201325 season and uses the FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring platform (PWM) to examine how congested calendars, long travel distances, and inadequate recovery periods affect player health and performance.<\/p>\n Methodology<\/strong><\/p>\n It uses data from the PWM, which tracks the schedules of 1,500 male footballers worldwide. The data measured appearances, minutes played, back-to-back matches, off-season length, pre-season training periods, and international travel distances. The study also incorporates a Delphi survey of 70 medical and performance experts, which produced 12 consensus statements defining minimum safeguards for players\u2019 workload.<\/p>\n Key Findings <\/strong><\/p>\n The Report notes that such schedules heighten the risk of fatigue, muscle injuries, and long-term health issues.<\/p>\n Medical Safeguards<\/strong><\/p>\n The Report calls for binding implementation of Workload Safeguards<\/strong> developed by medical experts, including:<\/p>\n Off-Season Break<\/em><\/p>\n In-Season Rest & Recovery<\/em><\/p>\n 5. There should be a minimum of two days between appearances<\/strong> to allow players to recover adequately.<\/p>\n 6. A diagnosed injured player should not compete until cleared by a medical professional<\/strong> from the player\u2019s club.<\/p>\n 7. Players should have a mandatory one day off per week<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Mid-Season Break<\/em><\/p>\n 8. There should be a mandatory mid-season break of 1 week<\/strong>, with no club or national team travel, training, or media commitments.<\/p>\n Travel<\/em><\/p>\n 9. The burden of travel<\/strong> resulting in fatigue or jet lag should be considered when scheduling fixtures.<\/p>\n 10. There should be a rest period between a long-haul flight and a subsequent match<\/strong> to allow adequate recovery.<\/p>\n Young Player Safeguards<\/em><\/p>\n 11. There should be specific workload safeguards for academy players under 18<\/strong>.<\/p>\n 12. Further research is needed to determine whether specific safeguards should also apply to players under 21<\/strong>.<\/p>\n We advise on football players employment contracts and welfare issues, and further information is available by emailing Kim Gamboni or Dr Lucien Valloni at gamboni@valloni.ch<\/a> and valloni@valloni.ch<\/a> respectively.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction The FIFPRO fifth Annual Report, was published on 29 September, 2025, with the title Overworked and Underprotected: The Player Health and Performance Impact\u00a0and presents a sobering assessment of the relentless demands of modern football. The 51-page study covers the 2024\u201325 season and uses the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-de"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
\n