Top footballers spend 87 per cent of time working, study finds

Fresh concerns have been raised about player burnout ahead of next year’s Club World Cup after a new study found that top professional footballers typically spend 80 per cent of their time working. 

Drawing on data that it compiled for global players’ union Fifpro, independent consultancy Football Benchmark says that, for some individuals, the number can be as high as 86-87 per cent of time spent in a work setting.

This not only includes matches and training sessions for both club and national teams but also related travel and commercial commitments.

“As top players juggle club commitments, national team duties and other obligations, the lack of recovery time amplifies physical fatigue and mental burnout,” the report states. 

“This type of overload over a prolonged period leads to a domino effect of underperformance and heightened injury risk, ultimately impacting a player’s overall career prospects.”

Football Benchmark’s study cites data from the 2022-23 season to illustrate the extreme demands being placed on some professionals.

Bruno Fernandes played more than 70 games for Manchester United and Portugal, while Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos had “insufficient” recovery time between two thirds of his matches. Due in part to representing Brazil, he travelled more than 55,000km on international flights and crossed time zones 30 times.

The demands on top players are expected to get even greater as competitions continue to expand. The Champions League is in the first year of a new format featuring 64 extra games, and the next men’s World Cup will increase in size by 50 per cent to 48 teams. 

Fifa, meanwhile, has revamped the Club World Cup from a seven-team affair into a 32-club tournament from next summer. The draw for the first edition of the competition, to be played in the US, was held on Thursday in Miami.  

Research by the Fifa-backed CIES Football Observatory earlier this year stated that only 0.31 per cent of players in 40 leading leagues played more than 50 games a year, and projected that their average minutes played would not rise despite competition expansions.

While it may only be the relatively few players at elite clubs and successful nations who face the biggest workloads, Football Benchmark argues that burnout among that group can still have a detrimental effect for the rest of the game. 

“Often players at the pinnacle of the game experience the most adverse effects. Yet, it is their performances that attract most fans and underpin the financial and commercial success of the industry,” it says.

The consultancy says that merely measuring appearances or minutes played is sufficient, and that a holistic analysis taking into account the primary activity of each day gives a clearer picture of the true workload being placed on players.

“The selected example provides a comprehensive overview of an elite player’s typical season from one of Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues,” its report states. “The player in question consistently manages both club and national team commitments and his schedule involves significant travel.

“The analysis results indicate that 80 per cent of the year is associated with ‘working time’, either for club or country. The remaining 20 per cent is left for private time that is spent entirely outside the football environment, allowing the player to recover.

“It is important to highlight that although this is just one example, it is representative of a large group of players who are involved in multiple international competitions and whose off-season breaks are often infringed upon by long summer tournaments. 

“In addition, our analysis have found several players who recorded working time percentages well above 80 per cent. In the current competition landscape, it is not unheard of that certain players spend 86-87 per cent of the year in a work setting and go 365 or more days without any off-season break.

“The long-term consequences of sustained high workload (‘excessive load’) must be considered by competition organisers when developing the match calendar of the future.”