Our guests’ opinions do not necessarily reflect the position of FIFPRO
By Prof. Lode Godderis and Simon Taes
As demonstrated in the FIFPRO annual workload report, the calendar congestion has adverse effects on player health and wellbeing. The survey in the report refers to the experiences of the players regarding the increasing mental and physical fatigue and the increased risk to suffer an injury due to the congested calendar.
While existing literature primarily focuses on sports performance, there is a critical need to examine these challenges from an occupational health perspective. Researchers from KU Leuven are conducting research on the medical and legal instruments on the occupational safety and health (OSH).
A systematic umbrella review was carried out to identify and analyse the demands, resources, and health outcomes associated with professional football competitions. Six primary themes have been identified: injury, fatigue, mental health, workload, monitoring practices, and lifestyle factors such as sleep and nutrition. The analysis identified key demands faced by soccer players, including high training loads, match congestion, and significant psychological stressors.
2023/24 Men's Player Workload Monitoring Report
The report highlights the burden on men's players involved in multiple international tournaments that endangers their welfare, performance and career prospects.
These demands are associated with various negative health outcomes, including injuries, fatigue, and mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. The JDR model highlighted possible resources, such as advanced monitoring systems, targeted injury prevention programs, recovery time and tailored nutritional strategies, which can mitigate the adverse effects of these demands.
The findings of this study emphasise the critical need for a holistic and coordinated approach to managing the health and well-being of professional football players. Preventive measures such as workload management, mental health monitoring, sustainable competition scheduling and the implementation of comprehensive recovery and/or protective protocols are essential in reducing the risk of injury and promoting long-term well-being and performance.
With these insights, strategies and standardised guidelines that align with OSH principles and legislation need to be developed and implemented. In the second part of the study, the researchers, will conduct research on the protection provided by various international and European legal instruments on OSH.
Seven key findings from FIFPRO’s latest workload report
In particular, they aim to clarify the application of this legal protection in the context of the players’ workload. This innovative study aims to contribute to strengthening the protection for players, as the holistic approach in the OSH legislation requires, amongst others, to identify and assess risks related to every aspect of work.
This would also include the impact assessment of extended or newly added workload demands (such as new competition formats). This would require that football governing bodies need to assess the risks related to the increasing workload by the football calendar not only for their physical health (e.g. injuries and diseases) but also their mental health (e.g. stress and work-life balance). In addition, governing bodies, competition organisers and football clubs would be required to adopt preventive measures to avoid these risks and to safeguard their players’ health.
This research focuses, moreover, on the tension between this OSH approach and the particularities of the football industry. Overall, this research aims to investigate the meaning of the OSH approach as a way to adopt effective and adequate industry-wide governance rules in football to strengthen individual protections through standardisation between different bodies competing for the working time of professional players.
