Soccer (Closing)

The FIFPRO report is a very well research report I highly recommend!

2023 FIFPRO Extreme Calendar Congestion: Adverse Effects on Player Health & Wellbeing Report

Key findings/takeaways:

• While the risks of injury and deteriorating performance are widely known, the report also illustrates dangers to career longevity, mental health, and personal lives.
• Today’s elite young players like Vinicius Jr have played up to double previous generation.
• Football stakeholders have disregarded health safeguards in favour of competition expansion to generate more revenue. eg expanded Club World Cup & Champions League, which could increase number of games by 11% for top players.
• FIFPRO seeks mandatory season breaks, limit on back-to-back games to protect players, and the minimisation of international travel.

The clubs & fans are negatively impacted also:

• The report also analyses the cost of injuries to clubs, broadcasters, and fans because of the large number of players missing matches in the ‘big five’ leagues this {22/23} season.

Minutes for current U25 vs previous generations:

• Vinicius Jr has at age 22 already played 18,876 minutes club and national team football, more than twice as much as former Brazil playmaker Ronaldinho at the same age.
• Spain’s Pedri had at the age of 20 played more than 12,000 minutes, 25 percent more minutes than Xavi at the same age.
• France’s Kylian Mbappe has at age 24 played 26,952 minutes, 48 percent more minutes than Thierry Henry at the same age.
• Jude Bellingham will have played more than 30 percent more minutes of competitive football by his 20th birthday later this month than Wayne Rooney, at the same age.

adding - I hope more players better leverage FIFPRO data/services to organize, speak & act on the player welfare challenges.