Are footballers going on strike because of too many fixtures? How the fixture list and players’ workload have increased over the years – Firstpost

A heavily packed football calendar in the current 2024-25 season is raising questions about the mental and physical health of players. Belgian Kevin de Bruyne, his Manchester City teammate Bernardo Silva and French football legend Thierry Henry have recently spoken out on the issue and the latest player to do so was Manchester City’s Rodri. He even suggested that players would not even hesitate to go on strike if necessary.

Starting this season, 36 teams will compete in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League. The organisers have dispensed with the group stage and instead introduced a uniform league phase for all teams.

In the Champions League and Europa League, each team is drawn against eight different opponents, each playing four home and four away matches. In the Conference League, this number is reduced to six for each team (three home and three away matches). In addition, the revamped FIFA Club World Cup will take place in the USA from June 15 to July 13 next year, meaning players have less than a month to prepare for the 2025/26 domestic season.

How the football program has intensified over the years

According to a FIFPro report dated June 8, 2023, players like Vinicius Junior and Pedri have played significantly more football than their predecessors. Vinicius, who was 22 at the time, had played a total of 18,876 minutes on the club and international field, which is more than double what Ronaldinho played at the same age. Pedri, who was 20 last year, had played more than 12,000 minutes, which is 25 percent more than Xavi did when he was 20.

At the age of 24, Frenchman Kylian Mbappe had already played 26,952 minutes, 48 ​​percent more than Thierry Henry at the same age. Before his 30th birthday, Jude Bellingham had already played 30 percent more than Wayne Rooney at the same age.

The expansion of the UEFA Champions League and the redesign of the FIFA Club World Cup would allow players to play 89 matches in the 2024/25 season, which represents almost 11 percent of matches, the report added. “The evidence shows that the cannibalization of the match calendar is placing greater mental and physical strain on today’s elite players than the previous generation,” FIFPRO Secretary General Jonas Baer-Hoffmann said last year.

“Even if some have to reduce their commitments or stop playing early, there is no solution in sight to protect them. The match calendar from 2024/25 will place even greater strain on their health and careers. Together, we all have a duty of care towards these players and the industry must accelerate the implementation of measures that protect their health and wellbeing,” he added.

The 2022-23 season was unusually busy, with the first-ever winter FIFA World Cup taking place in Qatar between November and December. The report adds that there was “inadequate preparation and recovery time” for players before and after the FIFA World Cup.

The next FIFA World Cup, to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026, will feature 48 teams, 16 more than the previous 32 teams.

What PFA said in May

In May of this year, England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) claimed that the players had reached a “breaking point”. “How far do you want to go?” PFA chief executive Maheta Molango asked some of the players, according to the BBC.

“Some of them said, ‘I won’t allow that, we might as well go on strike.’

“Some people said, ‘What’s the point? Yes, I’m a millionaire, but I don’t even have time to spend the money.'”

“We have reached a point where we can no longer rule out any action,” Molango added.