Club World Cup left Chelsea with less than two weeks’ pre-season September 29, 2025 Winners Chelsea were among the teams hardest hit by participating in the Club World Cup, exposing their players to greater risk of injury, according to a report by footballers’ union Fifpro. Reaching the final of the revamped competition in the US this summer left Chelsea with just 13 days of pre-season preparations before beginning the [...]
Justice for Players: Fifa facing mega lawsuit following Diarra ruling August 4, 2025 Fifa and European national football associations are facing a huge class-action lawsuit after the Diarra ruling deemed the world governing body’s transfer regulations to be unlawful. Dutch foundation Justice for Players (JfP) is bringing the action on behalf of as many as 100,000 professional footballers who have played for clubs in EU member states and [...]
Does NFL hold key to resolving football’s bitter welfare row? July 17, 2025 A bitter row between Fifa and players’ union Fifpro escalated at the recent Club World Cup in the US, but looking across the pond could provide the solution. Fifa president Gianni Infantino may be fond of his slogan “football unites the world” but the recent Club World Cup only appeared to drive a wedge even [...]
Chelsea’s Club World Cup winners’ prize? A £10m US tax bill July 16, 2025 Chelsea will be hit with a US tax bill of around £10m as a result of winning the Club World Cup on Sunday. The stunning 3-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in New York last weekend ensured Chelsea will receive £85m in prize money from competition organiser Fifa. Some £39.7m is to be paid immediately and [...]
Footballers’ union calls for safeguards that threaten Club World Cup June 12, 2025 Global footballers’ union Fifpro has issued a set of 12 recommended minimum protections designed to safeguard players’ physical and mental health from the sport’s increasing workload. The recommendations – which include a “blackout” period of at least two weeks in which players have no contact with their club or national team – are the result [...]
Fans will grow weary if player burnout continues in sport October 21, 2024 With demands on players like nothing seen previously, is potential player burnout also going to have an impact on fans too? It’s a surprising thing that during a cost-of-living crisis, with households struggling and economies straining, I find myself sympathising with Rodrigo Hernández Cascante. The £200,000-a-week Manchester City midfielder, better known as Rodri, last month [...]