Player Workload Study: holidays & pre-season preparations shortened due to overloaded calendar (FIFPRO)

• 14% of the footballers taking part in Euro 2024 in Germany had the recommended 28 days off at the end of the 2023-24 season and 15% had a 28-day preparation phase before starting the 2024-25 season;
• 9% of the participants in the Copa América 2024 who play in the European Top 5 leagues had four weeks off and 4% had 28 days of pre-season training.

These figures, calculated from 1,500 men's football players monitored on FIFPRO's "player workload monitoring platform", are included in the international footballers' union's 2025 report, entitled "Overworked and underprotected: the player health and performance impact" produced in collaboration with Football Benchmark, a business intelligence platform dedicated to football (document available to download).

"In a recently-published Consensus Study on Minimum Player Workload Safeguards, high-performance experts agreed players should receive 28 days off-season and a further 28 days pre-season," said FIFPRO.

"This report underlines the urgent need for more balanced competition calendars, in tandem with the implementation of minimum regulatory…