Four-week break recommended as player safeguard: Fifpro soccer study

A four-week off-season break should be mandatory for professional soccer players, with two of those weeks to be a blackout period with no communication with club or national team, according to a new study.

Seventy medical and performance experts agreed on 12 safeguards as part of the study released on Thursday by global players' union Fifpro to protect players from calendar congestion and excessive workload.

The safeguards include a minimum four-week retraining period after an off-season break before a return to competition.

“Decoding the human body, performance and sport-related injuries will be a lifelong scientific exercise for all of us,” said Darren Burgess, chair of Fifpro's high-performance advisory network. 

“However, the results of this study show there are certain minimum standards such as adequate rest between matches and proper off-season breaks that are common sense, aligned with scientific evidence and, above all, required by global occupational health and safety standards.”

The study's release comes days before the expanded Fifa Club World Cup kicks off in the US amid player welfare concerns after an exhausting European season.

Fifpro are calling for the immediate implementation of the safeguards which also include a minimum four-week retraining period after a close-season break before a return to competition and travel fatigue management which would mean rest periods after long-haul flights.

Players should also have a mandatory one-day off per week during the season and there should be a one-week midseason break with no club or national team travel, training or media commitments.

Fifpro are also calling for specific workload safeguards for academy players under the age of 18.

More than 75% agreement was required among participants to establish each recommendation.

While some safeguards exist under the collective bargaining agreements of some countries, international football lacks standardised regulations, Fifpro said.

The study's Delphi methodological approach was an electronic survey conducted from February to March, involving experts working in the performance or medical team in men's professional football.

Seventy-three percent of the experts are employed by football clubs, with 27% working for national teams.

“If we can agree that health comes first, then we should take steps to implement these safeguards,” said Fifpro's medical director Vincent Gouttebarge.

In October Fifpro, the European leagues' group and Spain's LaLiga filed a joint complaint to EU antitrust regulators, accusing soccer's global governing body Fifa of “abuse”, concerned about the effect of the expanding football calendar on player wellbeing. 

Reuters