"You've got the perfect storm of how not to treat a human,"
"You've got players playing a large number of games followed by fewer than the recommended off-season days and preseason days followed by a large number of games again,"
"This leads to injury at worst and at best reduced capacity to perform,"
"This year, with the impact at the Club World Cup, and the pathway towards the World Cup in the US, it felt necessary to include it in the report this year,"
Calendar congestion, compressed off-seasons and preseasons, and a 32-team Club World Cup have severely shortened recovery times for many players. Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich experienced markedly reduced off-seasons and preseasons this campaign. Some players, including Achraf Hakimi, had seasons stretching almost an entire year. Consensus medical experts recommend a minimum of four weeks between seasons and at least two days between appearances to allow adequate recovery, and advise accounting for increased travel burden when scheduling fixtures. Extreme heat has emerged as a major concern. Without improved safeguarding and better load management, player availability for the 2026 World Cup may be at risk.
Read at www.dw.com
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