- Medical and performance experts reach consensus on how to protect players from excessive workload
- Study by 70 specialists working in professional men’s football for clubs and national teams establishes 12 safety standards
- FIFPRO calls for immediate implementation of evidence-based safeguards to protect footballers
A comprehensive scientific study involving 70 medical and performance experts has established 12 consensus-based safeguards to protect professional footballers from calendar congestion and excessive workload.
While some safeguards exist under national collective bargaining agreements, international football lacks standardised frameworks or regulations.
The Delphi study, which uses a systematic approach to analyse independent opinions, represents the most extensive expert consensus to date on safeguards against excessive workload in professional football, with over 75 percent agreement required amongst the participants to establish each recommendation.
Seventy-three percent of the experts who participated are employed by football clubs, with 27 percent working for national teams; most of the group have worked in professional men’s football for more than a decade, and some have over 20 years of experience.
Player Safety Standards
"This study presents safety standards based on the considered and independent opinions of medical and performance experts working in professional football who understand the mental and physical strain placed on players," Prof. Dr. Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO Medical Director, said. "If we can all agree that health comes first, then we should take steps to implement these safeguards."
FIFPRO underlines that minimum health standards in professional football—a demonstrably high-risk industry for injury—are not matters for debate or negotiation. Just as construction workers require protective equipment and airline pilots have mandatory rest periods, professional footballers require global standards to establish protections based on the physical demands and injury risks inherent in their profession.
12 consensus based-protection standards for competition regulations
Position statements addressing minimum player safeguards
While the results of the research process provide the football industry with 12 position statements with over 75 percent consensus by the experts, the following examples highlight some of the critical workload safeguards identified:
- Season breaks and recovery: Four-week off-season breaks should be guaranteed, with two of these weeks to be completely commitment free; mandatory mid-season breaks.
- Retraining protocols: Minimum four-week retraining periods after off-season breaks before players return to competition.
- Travel fatigue management: Mandatory consideration of travel burden in scheduling and rest periods after long-haul flights.
- Young player protection: Specific workload safeguards for academy players under 18 years old.
There was consensus on 12 detailed statements covering areas including minimum rest between appearances, weekly rest days, and medical clearance protocols. To access all 12 consensus statements, head here.
Important player safeguards for consideration
Beyond these 12 statements, substantial majorities of experts (60-74 percent) support additional protections; these issues include seasonal match limits and fixture congestion controls. Participating experts stress that these areas require additional research, discussion and collaboration to establish precise parameters, particularly regarding specific protections for players under 21 years old. Additional expert perspectives can also be found here.
"Decoding the human body, performance, and sport-related injuries will be a lifelong scientific exercise for all of us," Dr. Darren Burgess, Chair of the FIFPRO High-Performance Advisory Network, said. "However, the results of this study show that 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."
FIFPRO would like to thank the medical and performance experts for providing their deep expertise to this study and is looking forward to upcoming projects, as well as collaborations with all football stakeholders in the near future.
About the study
A Delphi study is based on structured research methodology that systematically collects expert opinions through multiple rounds of surveys to achieve consensus on specific topics.
This Delphi study was conducted from February to March 2025 solely by FIFPRO's High-Performance Advisory Network with the purpose of addressing excessive workload in men's football.
The medical and performance experts consulted work within four confederations: UEFA, AFC, Concacaf and CAF. There were three survey rounds with consensus thresholds. The experts took part anonymously to remove bias.
