Nearly three months after the end of the first Winter World Cup, the impact of this event on the players themselves is becoming increasingly clear.

Paris Saint-Germain, having spent astronomical sums with the main goal of winning the Champions League, was easily eliminated in the 1/8 finals and will be limited to the fight for the Champions League. His “golden” trio, Messi, Neymar and Mbappe, as well as other world football stars “present” in Qatar, seem to be devastated, feel and look tired, tremble at the thought of injury.

“Extreme physical fatigue” is a diagnosis according to a study conducted by the International Association of Professional Football Players (FIFpro) in conjunction with the Football Benchmark in January, i.e. one month after the end of the World Cup. It was attended by 64 players, and its results also scare clubs in the face of the possibility that FIFA will hold another winter tournament, even adding more matches to the calendar.

54% of players reported injury or felt they could get injured this season, and 44% suffered severe fatigue symptoms. The data also states that 20% felt “high levels of mental and emotional fatigue” and that neither the pre-training time nor the subsequent recovery was enough for them to see an improvement. 86% of footballers surveyed said they would like at least 14 days of training and 61% of at least 14 days of recovery.

In their comments, they indicated that they did not have enough time to prepare with their national team before Qatar and that they had to rush back to their team commitments after that. In fact, one of them stated that it was something “suicidal”.

Dramatic conclusions of the FIFpro study on footballers after Qatar.

As FIFpro General Secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann said: “Football players are realizing that their match calendar is unstable, affecting their mental and physical health and subjecting them to an accelerating cycle of uncoordinated matches. “Game planning continues to prioritize commercial goals over the health and safety of top players, who are thus cannibalized.”

From the study, it should be noted that the preparation time for the players for the World Cup was reduced to an average of 7 days compared to an average of 31 days for previous competitions. The recovery time before the resumption of club matches averaged 8 days, compared to 37 days in previous competitions.

In addition, the increase in stoppage time to 11.6 minutes from 7.3 at the 2018 World Cup means an additional three full matches for the player in the season.

Thus, fatally, some of them are thinking not only about giving up playing for their national teams, but also about reconsidering their professional obligations altogether.