(Steve Den Hollander et al; Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2025)

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Background

The International Match Calendar (IMC) governs how professional football matches are scheduled worldwide. Growing competition density—due to league, continental, and international tournaments—has caused fixture congestion, resulting in excessive workload, inadequate recovery, and increased travel demands. These factors have been linked to higher injury risk, mental fatigue, and declining player well-being.

To address these issues, FIFPRO and an international research team (Amsterdam UMC, University of Cape Town, Adelaide FC, etc.) produced a player-centric expert position statement recommending how the IMC should protect player health and performance.

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Methods

A three-round Delphi process was conducted in 2025, informed by:

1. A scoping review of 54 sport-science studies (2000–2024) on fixture congestion, recovery, rest, and travel;
2. A systematic review of 37 occupational-health and legal-safety papers;
3. Surveys of > 1500 male professional players and 92 performance/medical staff.

From this evidence, 19 draft statements across six IMC dimensions were tested among 70 experts in sports medicine and performance (mostly UEFA-based). Consensus required ≥ 75 % agreement.

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Key Dimensions Considered

1. Match workload
2. In-season rest and recovery
3. Off-season break
4. Mid-season break
5. Travel
6. Young-player workload safeguards

Consensus was ultimately reached on 12 statements across five of these dimensions.

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Findings & Final Recommendations

🩹 In-season rest & recovery

• Minimum 2 days between appearances.
• 1 mandatory rest day per week without training, travel, or media duties.
• Injured players must not return until cleared by medical staff.

Scientific evidence: Full physical recovery from a match requires 48–72 h. Shorter intervals increase reinjury risk.

🌴 Off-season break

• Minimum 4 weeks rest between seasons.
• Includes a 2-week “black-out” period with no contact from club or national team.
• Followed by 4 weeks of retraining before competition resumes.
• Optional wellness monitoring may be offered.

Surveys show players want ~5 weeks off; staff consider 4–6 weeks optimal for recovery and preseason preparation.
Current IMC (e.g., 2024–25 cycle) often allows < 5 weeks total due to overlapping tournaments.

🧠 Mid-season break

• One-week mandatory mid-season break, free of matches, training, or travel.

Evidence: reduces injuries; breaks longer than one week may harm fitness and technical sharpness.

✈️ Travel

• Fixture planners must account for travel fatigue and jet lag when scheduling games.
• Mandatory recovery window between long-haul flights (> 6 h) and next squad inclusion.

Repeated international travel worsens sleep, mood, performance, and injury risk; 2 h + flights already disrupt recovery for many players.

🧒 Young-player safeguards

• Specific workload limits required for under-18 players;
• More research needed to define safe limits for under-21s.

Young players now accumulate far more minutes than previous generations, posing long-term health risks.

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Issues Without Full Consensus

⚽ Match workload ceiling

Although 69 % of experts supported setting a season limit, no agreement emerged on exact numbers:

• 25 % favoured ≤ 45 matches (> 45 min each).
• 36 % favoured ≤ 55 appearances (any minutes).
  Players themselves viewed 3–4 back-to-back matches as a safe upper limit.

Research links acute fixture congestion—not total matches—to spikes in injury, fatigue, inflammation, immune suppression, and mood disturbance.

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Occupational-Health & Legal Perspective

• Footballers are employees; workload, rest, and travel conditions fall under Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and labour-law obligations.
• Chronic overload, insufficient rest, and mental-health strain should be treated as work-related risks.
• Regulatory bodies must ensure IMC structures comply with ILO and EU OSH frameworks, prioritizing long-term player welfare over commercial pressure.

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Strengths & Limitations

Strengths: multidisciplinary evidence synthesis, inclusion of player/staff views, structured Delphi consensus, and strong expert engagement.
Limitations: expert sample dominated by UEFA context; existing survey data slightly outdated; limited empirical research on precise match-load thresholds and youth workload.

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Conclusions & Implications

This expert position statement provides the first global, consensus-based framework to align the International Match Calendar with player-health principles.
It calls for:

• Institutionalized rest periods (weekly, mid-season, off-season);
• Recovery safeguards around travel and injuries;
• Age-specific workload protections;
• Integration of occupational-health standards into football governance.

Further research is needed to determine quantitative match-load limits and to expand evidence across confederations.
Adopting these recommendations would promote sustainable careers, safer competition schedules, and improved player well-being in an increasingly congested global football calendar.

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