Women’s game suffering from uneven schedule, says Fifpro union

The players’ union, Fifpro, has called for a more holistic and coordinated approach to match calendars around the world after its new report found that professional players in the women’s game are suffering from “underloading” as a result of not playing often or consistently enough, competing in an average of 22 matches in the 2019-20 season.

The 2021 annual workload study has found that, even at the very top of the women’s game, the low number of games is preventing the growth and development of players and the sport generally.

Data from 85 female players analysed by the Fifpro Player Workload Monitoring platform found that 14% of all minutes played by an average player came in non-competitive friendly matches, highlighting a lack of high-quality international club tournaments.

The study found that players at the very top are hampered by long and quiet periods juxtaposed with bursts of overload in which they need to play an unusually high number of games in a short space of time.

Fifpro’s director of global policy and strategic relations for women’s football, Sarah Gregorius, said: “One of the benefits of the international stakeholder environment in women’s football is that it’s actually pretty small and there are not that many leagues or competition organisers.

“The confederations will put on a continental championship every four years and that will sometimes double up as World Cup or Olympic qualification. So, it doesn’t have to be a long conversation with lots of competing interests.”

She added: “One thing the women’s football environment has inherited is that things exist in silos and that means that the expertise is a little bit diluted, and people aren’t used to talking to each other because some of the