The football calendar suffocates the players, mentally and physically. FIFPro Europe, part of the world footballers’ union, which has been pointing out the lack of rest and the excess of matches and workload on players for some time, has decided to take legal measures against FIFA. The member unions of FIFPro Europe have presented this Thursday a legal complaint against the organization questioning the legality of the decision to “unilaterally establish the international match calendar” and, above all, the decision to “create and schedule the Club World Cup of 2025″. A position taken after FIFA, in May, assured that it would not consider rescheduling the Club World Cup. “Given that all attempts at dialogue have failed, it is now up to us to ensure full respect for the fundamental rights of players by bringing the matter before the European courts and therefore before the CJEU. It is not about stigmatizing a specific competition, but about denouncing both the underlying problem and the straw that broke the camel’s back,” declares the president of FIFPro in Europe, David Terrier.
Footballers, and their unions, have been pointing out for some time that the current football calendar is “overloaded” and “unviable,” says FIFPro. The union points to articles 5, 15, 28 and 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which prohibit forced or compulsory labor, and which also include freedom of work, the right to negotiate and the right to an annual period of paid vacation. The English Professional Footballers Association and the Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels – the French players’ union – ask, with the support of FIFPro Europe, the Commercial Court in Brussels to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). They consider that FIFA’s decisions regarding the calendar and competitions infringe the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU “without serious justification”, and point out that the objective of this new competition is to “increase the wealth” and “power of the organization.” rector of world football.”
FIFA has continued to expand its competitions, such as with the decision of the Club World Cup, which will be held during one of the only times of the year where players can rest: between June 15 and July 13, 2025 , and that 32 teams from the six continental confederations will compete—in the United States. FIFPro assures that for the “most requested players”, the guaranteed annual right has become “practically non-existent”. Footballers like Rodri, from Manchester City, have complained on several occasions about the overload of matches. “I need to rest,” he said last April, after accumulating 3,498 minutes with his team this season and 5,841 minutes adding the national team, with 63 games and an average of 92 minutes in them. Even Carlo Ancelotti was dissatisfied with the Club World Cup, although he qualified his words afterwards. Real Madrid will fight to win seven competitions in the 2024/25 season: League, Spanish Super Cup, Cup, European Super Cup, Champions League, Intercontinental and Club World Cup. “FIFA forgets: the players and clubs will not participate. A single Real Madrid match is worth 20 million and FIFA wants to give us that amount for the entire cup. Negative. Like us, others will reject the invitation,” Ancelotti declared to the Italian media. Il Giornale. The white club, hours later and through an official statement, guaranteed its participation in the competition.
Last May, the FIFPro union itself published a report precisely on the lack of rest of footballers and the symptoms of burn out that they suffered. Of the 1,283 professionals surveyed, half reported having suffered injuries due to “excessive” matches, and 54% had played without being completely recovered from them. Even 82% of coaches confessed to fielding unrecovered players to be able to play due to the pressure to achieve results. More than 70% also stated that they had to guarantee a minimum rest period. “We have a joint problem and for the first time we are going to try to face it together,” Javier Tebas confessed at that time. “The international calendar is our priority. FIFA doesn’t listen. Their decisions harm the ecosystem. “It is a failure of governance,” David Terrier said at the time. Above all, for those younger players: before turning 21, David Beckham played 3,929 minutes as a professional in various seasons. But 25 years later, Jude Bellingham played 18,486 minutes before the same age. The solution for FIFPro is to reduce the match load, considering it unsustainable to play more than 65 matches. Your physical, but also mental, health is at stake.
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