FIFA is facing a complaint about health risks for football players during the full calendar | Football news
The confederation of European football clubs and the European football players’ representative body FIFPRO Europe will file a joint complaint about FIFA’s international match calendar and the risk to players’ health to the European Union’s antitrust regulators on Monday.
The European League and FIFPRO Europe announced their decision to appeal on Thursday, two weeks after Europe’s highest court ruled that the world football governing body’s rules on the sale of players breached EU law following a challenge by former France player Lassana Diarra.
The appeal also underscored the growing trend of disgruntled athletes and sports organizations turning to EU watchdogs to help protect the playing field and withdraw the powers of governing bodies.
The European League and the FIFPRO complaint centers on the calendar of international matches – which they say has become the norm for national teams and endangers the health of players, arguing that FIFA was abusing its market power.
FIFA said the current calendar was unanimously approved by its council after full consultation, including FIFPRO and league associations.
The European Commission, which acts as competition regulator for the 27-nation bloc, can order companies to stop anti-competitive practices and fine them.
#FIFPROA recent professional report reveals the worrying impact of increasing competition on male soccer players.
⚠️ 54% of players face a difficult task
📅 31% played 55+ games last season
🛌 <1 full day off per week for others
🚨 80+ games revealed in 2025– FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) September 5, 2024
A FIFPRO report in September warned that football’s packed calendar is putting players’ health at risk and leaving some without 12 per cent of their annual rest, which equates to less than one day a week.
FIFPRO said the lack of rest breaks international health and safety standards and is the result of tournament organizers not prioritizing the welfare of players.
The report for the 2023-24 season said 54 percent of the 1,500 players who were supervised faced high work demands, with more medical recommendations than ever.
Almost a third (31 per cent) have been in teams for more than 55 match days, and 17 per cent have played in more than 55 matches. About 30 percent appeared in at least six consecutive weeks of two or more games per week.
All three European club competitions have been expanded to 36 teams this season and FIFPRO’s European member unions have launched legal action against FIFA over the 32-team Club World Cup, which starts in June 2025 in the United States.
International matches, with a team or country, comprise 30 percent of the players’ most active matches. Players spent up to 18 percent of their annual working time at national team camps or media activities and partnerships last season.
“The gap between those who plan and organize complex international competitions and those who play them and experience them has never been greater,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO’s director of global policy and strategic relations, in a statement.
The report also predicted that the likes of Federico Valverde, Nicolo Barella and Phil Foden will play up to 80 games in the coming seasons due to the increase in competitions.
Another report, by the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES), said there is no clear evidence of an increase in the work of elite players since the 2000s.
An independent research institute in Switzerland, founded in 1995 in partnership with FIFA, reported that national leagues accounted for 82.2 percent of all games played by players from 40 leagues surveyed between the 2012-13 and 2023-24 seasons.
The report said the average number of club games per season is stable at more than 40 between 2012 and 2024 and around 5 per cent of clubs play 60 or more games per season (excluding friendlies).
In the 2023-2024 season, England recorded the highest number of back-to-back home games (87) among Europe’s top leagues, with Premier League clubs averaging the shortest recovery time between games at 67.3 hours. Additionally, English clubs also topped the list of “non-European” friendlies played.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the governing body organizes a small part of the games, but its financial contributions support the development of football around the world and benefit sports around the world.
“All other matches, 98 to 99 percent, are organized by other organizations, by different leagues, associations and confederations,” Infantino said while speaking at the FIFA conference in Bangkok in May.
“With this one or two percent of the matches organized by FIFA, FIFA finances football around the world. The money we bring in doesn’t just go to a few teams in one country. The revenue we generate goes to 211 countries. No other organization does that.”
