By Muhammad Isa
The 2025/2026 football season is underway, and a familiar, escalating crisis is already casting a shadow over Europe’s top five leagues. The relentless grind of the modern football calendar, a dense web of domestic, continental, and international fixtures, is exacting a heavy price on the physical and mental well-being of players. As medical rooms fill up across the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1, a growing chorus of players, managers, and fans is demanding that UEFA and FIFA finally address the unsustainable issue of fixture congestion.
Early reports from the current campaign suggest it is following a worrying trajectory set in previous years. The Top five European leagues saw a staggering 14,292 injuries across these leagues, costing clubs an estimated €2.3 billion over a four-season period according to the Howden Men’s European Football Injury Index. This season is picking up where it left off. A glance at recent news reveals a stark picture: Borussia Dortmund’s defensive core is crumbling with Nico Schlotterbeck suffering a serious meniscus injury and Niklas Süle expected to be sidelined for at least two months, as reported by club statements. In England, Crystal Palace is dealing with concerns over Will Hughes and Chris Richards, while Brighton’s new signing Georginio Rutter was a recent doubt, per Premier Injuries.
These individual cases are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a broader, alarming trend. The Howden Index noted a 4% increase in injury frequency and a 5% rise in associated costs in 2023/2024. The Premier League alone registered a massive €318.8 million in injury-related costs. Perhaps most concerning is the data on young players; injury severity for those under 21 has skyrocketed by 187% since the 2020/2021 season, according to the Howden report. The demanding, high-pressing styles prevalent in leagues like the Premier League and Bundesliga, combined with the immense physical load placed on young athletes thrust into first-team action, are creating a perfect storm for long-term damage.
The root of this epidemic is undeniable: an impossibly congested football calendar. Top clubs routinely face seasons exceeding 50 matches, juggling league campaigns, domestic cups, and deep runs in UEFA tournaments. This is compounded by international breaks for World Cup qualifiers and major tournaments, with the new expanded FIFA Club World Cup adding another layer of pressure. The 2025/2026 season is further strained by the new UEFA Champions League format, which increases the number of group-stage matches, and the notable absence of a proper winter break. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca articulated a widespread concern, stating the obvious yet ignored truth that it is impossible for players to sustain performance across 60 games in a season, a point highlighted by AbsoluteChelsea and Blue_Footy on X. The 2022/2023 season, disrupted by a mid-season World Cup, offered a grim preview, resulting in a 20% spike in injury rates across the top leagues as analyzed by Howden.
This escalating crisis demands urgent and decisive action from football’s governing bodies, UEFA and FIFA. The reasons are multifaceted and critical to the sport’s future. First and foremost is player welfare. Elite footballers are being pushed to the brink of burnout and career-threatening injuries. With an injury occurring every 92 minutes across the top leagues according to Howden, protecting the health of the players is a moral imperative and essential for maintaining the very quality of the game itself. Secondly, the financial impact on clubs is staggering. While giants like Manchester United, who incurred €47.4 million in injury costs last season per the Howden Index, can absorb some of the blow, the burden is crippling for smaller clubs. A single injury to a key player can derail a season for a mid-table or relegation-threatened team, exacerbating competitive imbalance.
Furthermore, the quality of the game and its fundamental fairness are undermined. Teams are often unable to field their strongest lineups, and the spectacle suffers when fatigued players cannot perform at their peak. This dissatisfaction is now boiling over into direct action. The global players’ union FIFPro, alongside the European Leagues association, has filed a formal complaint against FIFA over the congested calendar as reported by Inside World Football, with elite players reportedly threatening strikes if their workloads are not reduced. This unprecedented level of pushback signals a breaking point that can no longer be ignored.
Solutions, while complex, are available and require collaboration between governing bodies, leagues, clubs, and players. These could include reducing the match volume in expanded tournaments, reinstating and enforcing mandatory winter breaks—Howden data shows injuries dropped to 352 in January from 411 in December during a break—and enhancing financial protection programs like the FIFA Club Protection Programme to better compensate clubs for injuries sustained on international duty. A data-driven approach to scheduling, avoiding consecutive high-intensity matches, and even encouraging squad rotation through mandates could help distribute the physical load more evenly.
The opening weeks of the 2025/2026 season are a stark reminder of the unsustainable path football is on. The toll is measured in torn muscles, broken dreams, and hundreds of millions of euros. UEFA and FIFA have a clear responsibility to act, not just as administrators of the sport, but as its custodians. They must listen to the clear warnings from the treatment tables and the vocal demands from those on the pitch. Implementing thoughtful reforms to protect player welfare is the only way to ensure the beautiful game remains competitive, entertaining, and safe for the athletes who are its lifeblood.
