Calendar harming star players: FIFPRO

Top players are being put at risk by an increasingly crowded international calendar that gives them no chance to recover from matches and travel, said their union, FIFPRO, in a report published Thursday.

‘At the Limit,’ a glossy 40-page document, builds on demands the union has long expressed. It wants players to have five-day breaks between matches, extra recovery time after long international flights, a two-week winter break and a summer off season of at least four weeks.

“The international match calendar has become denser. The game is faster, more physical and more global than ever,” says the report.

“Although the demands on players are increasing, their physical and psychological capacity has natural limits.”

The report argues that science backs up its recommendations, without going into details. It also offers quotes top managers and players.

“If we don’t learn to deal with our players in a better way,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

“We will kill the beautiful game. Without the player, the game is not a good one.”