Will the FIFA Club World Cup lead to more injuries next season?

Fifpro, the football players’ union, has recommended a mandatory four week break for footballers. Yet with the expanded Club World Cup, the powers-that-be seem to have given their response. So what does that mean for the teams – and the players – taking part? YKC’s Dave Duffy gives his take.

Professional footballers should have a four-week off-season break, followed by a four-week period of training ahead of returning to competition. Those are just two of the recommendations made by 70 medical professionals contributing to a report by Fifpro, the global football players’ union.

The BBC quotes Professor Doctor Vincent Gouttebarge, Fifpro medical director, who said the 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.”

You don’t have to look too far to find consensus that footballers play too much football. In September 2024, again as per the BBC, Manchester City midfielder Rodri said players were close to going on strike because of the increase in games. Team-mate Manuel Akanji suggested he would have to retire at 30-years-old as a result of the lack of breaks in the calendar. A week later, Rodri suffered an ACL tear that ruled him out for the season and (arguably) derailed City’s season before it had even got going.

“A pointless competition”

The catalyst for the City players’ anger was the announcement of an expanded FIFA Club World Club. In case you don’t follow football, that’s a World Cup of league football teams from around the world (e.g. Real Madrid), as opposed to national squads filled with players from those teams (e.g. Spain).

The tournament is currently reaching its climax in the US. Manchester City and Chelsea have been representing English football. Chelsea have made it all the way to the final. Yet it’s fair to say one former Premier League-winning manager isn’t wild about it.

“It’s a pointless competition,” said Jurgen Klopp, former Liverpool manager, as reported in The Guardian. “Whoever wins it will be the worst winner of all time because they’ll have played all summer and then gone straight back into the league. There are people who have never been involved in the day-to-day business of football and are now coming up with ideas.“

Injury prevention first

When a footballer suffers an injury, treatment and rehabilitation are vital to ensuring they return to the level they were at when injury struck. But far better than rehabilitation is prevention. You can’t get rid of risk, but you can manipulate it, manage it, modify it and reduce it. We are seeing a growing recognition of the importance of this, particularly for young people and in the women’s game, which has seen an epidemic of ACL injuries over the past few years.

My colleague Nick London has been involved in developing a new programme to address this. We know there’s a recognition among those most senior in the game (including former England men’s team manager Gareth Southgate). But the message doesn’t appear to be getting heard everywhere.

Too many games

The final games of the Premier League season took place on 25 May. In theory, that gives players the Fifpro-recommended four weeks off and four weeks of pre-season. But things don’t really work like that.

This year’s Club World Cup finishes on 13 July. That’s just a month away from the start of the new Premier League season. The rest of the Premier League reported back for training ahead of the new season a clear week before Chelsea have finished the previous one.

That’s clearly not sustainable. But the expansion of tournaments and tournament formats isn’t only confined to the Club World Cup. All of Europe’s three cup tournaments have expanded in recent years, placing more teams and more players into the ‘overworked’ category. Most teams are combining pre-season fitness training with lucrative overseas matches and tournaments. And then, once the next Premier League season is done, the FIFA World Cup begins.

That’s a real problem, because having somebody play excessive matches, particularly if they’re underprepared or fatigued without proper recovery periods, will put them at risk of further injury. Small wonder the evidence suggests players are more susceptible to injury at the starts and ends of seasons.

As Jurgen Klopp put it: “It’s too many games. I fear next season we will see injuries like never before. If not then, they’ll come during or after the Club World Cup. There’s no real recovery for those involved, neither physically nor mentally.“

A higher prevention profile

Players need downtime and it’s hard to see when the most successful players at the most successful clubs will get it.

Injury prevention needs a much higher profile, not just for the benefit of players, but for the benefit of clubs who, presumably, don’t want extremely expensive commodities laying on the treatment table. When injuries increase, players, fans, clubs and the quality of competitions all suffer.

I’d suggest nothing, not even the Club World Cup’s $1 billion prize pot, is worth that.

Elite footballer or not, if you’ve suffered a knee injury, contact us, or phone us on 03453 052 579.