FIFA claims consensus over rest periods but global players union criticise ‘authoritarian' decisions

New York Times

13-07-2025

FIFA has claimed there is a consensus over the need for defined rest periods for players, but FIFPro, the global players' union, was not invited to the meeting where it was reached.
On Sunday, FIFPro's president Sergio Marchi referred to his FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino as 'the man who thinks he is God', saying that football's world governing body's decision-making process had become 'unilateral' and 'authoritarian'.
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Marchi accused FIFA of basing their decisions on the issue 'solely on a logic of economic profitability, not human sustainability', and said the health of players is being overlooked 'to fuel a marketing machine'.
The issue of increased player workload has been a key discussion point in the build-up to the Club World Cup and throughout the expanded tournament in the United States.
FIFA addressed the topic at a meeting held on the eve of the competition's final, which will be played between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday evening.
FIFA says that after discussions with the player unions in attendance that there must be at least 72 hours of rest between matches, and that players should have a rest period of at least 21 days at the end of each season. FIFPro, which has pressured FIFA to address the issue for many years, have been calling for 28 days of rest.
'FIFPRO cannot fail to point out, with absolute clarity, that this competition hides a dangerous disconnect with the true reality experienced by most footballers around the world,' the union's president Marchi said in a statement shared with The Athletic.
'What was presented as a global celebration of football was nothing more than a fiction created by FIFA, promoted by its president, without dialogue, sensitivity, and respect for those who sustain the game with their daily efforts.'
Marchi said that FIFA have 'ignored the reality' of the workload facing players and said the organisation 'continue increasing its revenue at the expense of the players' bodies and health'.
Saturday's meeting also recommended a rest day per week for players, FIFA said in a press release, while long-haul intercontinental trips, and the weather conditions under which matches are played, should be considered when the next international match calendar is mapped out.
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Sources with knowledge of the matter indicate that FIFPro were not invited to the meeting and those who were do not represent FIFPro in any capacity. While some in attendance were previously part of FIFPro they have since lost their positions and others, The Athletic has been told, FIFPro do not recognise.
Brazil, Spain, Ukraine, Mexico, Switzerland, Ivory Coast, Latvia, Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic all were represented, The Athletic has been told.
FIFA's release did include several aspects FIFPro has been seeking, but there clearly remains major tensions between the organisations. FIFPro executives, despite not being at the meeting with Infantino, were present in New York City this weekend.
FIFA has been approached for comment.
Established in 1965, FIFPro represents 66,000 professional footballers around the world.
In October of last year, the union teamed up with Europe's domestic leagues to file a formal complaint against world football's governing body over the game's ever-expanding calendar.
'FIFA refuses to listen and engage with the players, the main labour resource of our industry, who are there on the pitch, creating a powerhouse of European and global entertainment culture, and pushing their bodies to the limit,' FIFPro Europe president David Terrier said at the time.
'But we have listened to our players, have received the same messages for a long period of time, that they are playing too much and do not have enough time to recover. Ahead of the worst season ever for workload, many have also decided to talk in public with the same message: enough is enough.'
(Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)