Shocking! Kim Min-jae's 20th consecutive full-time, Lee Kang-in circled the earth 2.5 times FIFPRO report selects icons of Korean players' overwork. expressing concern about the players' association
Nov 28, 2025
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Cracks occurred in the iron column and the light of the Golden Boy faded through this 'harsh schedule'. Injuries and physical exhaustion have prevented him from performing properly. This is in the 「Players' workload monitoring report" released by the International Federation of Festival Professional Footballers (FIFPRO).
Citing a report by FIFPRO, the Korea Professional Footballers Association (hereinafter referred to as the Korea Professional Footballers Association) expressed serious concern about the recent murderous game schedule in the soccer world, calling it `the act of eating away the life of a player.' The Korea Federation of Players claimed that the players are in chronic fatigue due to the schedule of games without rest, and that it is urgent to guarantee a minimum rest.
Earlier in the day, FIFPRO again warned of excessive overwork by elite soccer players through a 'athlete workload monitoring report'. Even before the domestic league is over, the players have no time to rest because they are playing the club World Cup and the national team schedule that follows.
The annual report, co-published by FIFPRO and 'Football Benchmark', analyzed season data from 1500 male athletes. The report's core conclusion is that "a non-resting game cycle is critical to player health and performance."
Maheta Molango, FIFPRO board executive, said "Players have already reached their limits. As the days go by, the risk of injury increases, and the performance decreases. In particular, the expanded and reorganized Club World Cup turned out to be poisonous to players. The off-season between the winner Chelsea and the runner-up PSG was only about three weeks, and the pre-season preparation period was only 13 days for Chelsea and 7 days for PSG.
This is far short of the 'minimum protection device'(offseason 28th + preseason 28th) that sports medical experts said.
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Dr. Darren Burgess, chair of the FIFPRO Advisory Network, said "Without sufficient off-season, physical and mental recharging is impossible. High-intensity training can be carried out safely only when 28 days of preseason are guaranteed. Soccer should also refer to rest schedules for other sports such as 14 weeks in the NBA and 15 weeks in the MLB," he added.
In particular, in this report, the beams of Korean soccer were referred to as 'harsh icons'. Munich's key defender Kim Min-jae played an average of 3.6 days apart for 73 days, recording his longest 20 consecutive appearances. Analysts say 65% of all games are consecutive games. The report pointed out that "consecutive appearances without sufficient recovery increase the risk of injury abnormally".
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Chris Wood, FIFPRO's global player committee member, said "As long as the distance is long, enough rest should be guaranteed, but this is not the case for Lee Kang-in at all. If you are immediately put into games or training after traveling a long distance, your career will end quickly. It is the same as the case of Korean legend Park Ji-sung in the past.
FIFPRO agreed that youth protection is more urgent. Spain's national team, Lamine Yamal, had already played 130 games before he turned 18, while England's representative and Tottenham Hotspur's 19-year-old Archie Gray called up and played 80 times last season.
Dr. Burgess "They are still growing young athletes. High-intensity sprinting and short recovery intervals during periods when ligaments are weak without the growth plate being closed can lead to structural damage. The psychological burden should not be overlooked, he warned.
The report nailed health risks beyond football's inherent risks when 'more than two games a week' persists. A number of key resources, including Real Madrid (Valverde, Modric), Barcelona (Pedri, Raphinha), Atletico, and Bayern, played more than 50 games last season, and the recovery period accumulated for less than five days.
Regarding the FIFPRO report, Kim Hoon-ki, Secretary-General of the Players' Association, said, `At least 28 days should be documented as a rule that requires rest. Rest should be applied compulsorily during hot and cold seasons, and the minimum recovery time after moving should be guaranteed through calendar linkage between national teams and clubs. And we still need to restrict U-18 and U-21 players from playing back-to-back games and manage medical conditioning data," he said.
Then, President Kim said "The core is simple. I'm not trying to reduce the game, I'm asking you to make sure you rest when you rest. Players are people, not content consumed. You should rest when you rest. We need to guarantee the right to play healthy so that we can show better performances to our fans", he explained.
Reporter Lee Won-man wman@sportschosun.com
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
