Introduction to the FIFPro Report
A FIFPro report about the 2024-25 football season shows concerns about the number of soccer players in the men’s game. The most important findings cover several concerns, perhaps above all, in particular the overload of the calendars and the extreme heat. The 32-team club world championship put a lot of strain on the players, with some like Achraf Hakimi taking their seasons over a year.
Overload of the Calendars
The report states that Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich had greatly shortened their outside of the season for the current campaign due to the competition. Without improved security and better charging management, there is concern that the participation of many players in the 2026 World Cup is at risk. The FIFPRO report showed that the consensus of medical experts consists in the fact that the competitive regulations between the seasons include at least four weeks and at least two days between the appearance in order to enable adequate recreation, and that the increased travel load in the planning of devices should be taken into account.
Expert Opinion
FIFPRO consultant Dr. Darren Burgess said, "You have the perfect storm that you don’t treat a person. They have players who play a large number of games, followed by less than the recommended days outside of the season and days in the pre-season, followed by a large number of games. The cycle repeats itself again and again." He added, "This leads to an injury in the worst case and, in the best case, the capacity reduces to perform."
Heat Concerns
One of the other main concerns in the report was heat, which was emphasized for the first time five years after the annual reports were submitted. FIFPRO director of politics and strategic relationships, Alexander Bielefeld, said, "The risk of the health of the players is clearly increasing." Using the World Cup as a case study, the report showed that four games in the United States achieved a temperature of over 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit Wbgt), which according to FIFPRO guidelines meant that they should have been postponed.
Impact of Heat on Players
Manal Azzi, an expert in health and security, told FIFPRO, "The harder and longer athletes play, the greater their heat exposure and increases the risk of tiredness and difficulty to heat and long-term diseases." According to the FIFPro report, six of the 16 cities for the world championship conditions are classified as a "extreme risk" for heat-related diseases, which is a problem for players and fans.
What Happens Next?
Since FIFPRO is currently taking legal steps against FIFA for the overloaded nature of the calendar and the voices of the play group, which are even louder, there is hope that material changes are on the move. The union of players believes that years of accumulated data give their arguments more weight and that there is a real sense in the game that nobody denies that load management is a problem. Alexander Phillips, General Secretary of Fifpro, said, "We will always fight for the best possible result in this topic and many other topics." However, he added, "But they are all on the same problem, that is that the system doesn’t work."
