FIFA agrees to 72-hour match rest rule and 21-day off-season break for players
The discussions took place before the Club World Cup final between PSG and Chelsea. The tournament was held during the European offseason and has faced criticism from unions, as an increased focus on player welfare has been leading to calls for mandatory rest periods and a greater emphasis on player safety during matches.
Days before the start of the month-long Club World Cup, soccer chiefs faced renewed calls to safeguard players over growing fears of injuries and burnout. Last month, France's union of professional soccer players launched a scathing attack on the competition, saying it is "urgent to stop this massacre' amid ongoing concerns about extreme player workloads.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino and other officials from soccer's governing body met with representatives of players' unions from around the world in New York. FIFA hailed the discussions as "progressive,' adding that players' health is a "top priority.'
"There is a consensus that there must be at least 72 hours of rest between matches, and that players should have a rest period/holiday of at least 21 days at the end of each season,' FIFA said. "This period should be managed individually by each club and the respective players, also depending on their match calendars and taking into account applicable collective agreements.'
Enforcing 72 hours strictly could mean big adjustments to some game schedules and TV deals. FIFA didn't indicate how it would work in practice. European teams playing in the Europa League late Thursday evening routinely play domestic league games on the following Sunday. With a strict 72-hour break, they might have to wait until Monday to play again.
That would be a major headache for the German Bundesliga. It abolished Monday evening games in 2021 after years of protests by fans who wanted easier-to-attend weekend kickoffs. When it introduced the unpopular Monday kickoffs four seasons earlier, the German league argued it would mean more rest for Europa League teams.
The new Bundesliga TV deal starting next season doesn't include any Monday games, either.
FIFA added that a rest day per week should also be allowed and that travel demands as well as climate conditions, will also factor into future competition planning.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab Times
an hour ago
- Arab Times
Takes 6 for 9 as Australia bowls out West Indies for 27
KINGSTON, Jamaica, July 15, (AP): Mitchell Starc took six wickets for nine runs and Scott Boland claimed a hat-trick as Australia dismissed the West Indies for 27 - the second-lowest total ever in test cricket - to win the third test by 176 runs on Monday. The West Indies missed the lowest score in test cricket by one run, due to a misfield. Starc's first 15 balls delivered the fastest five-wicket haul in test history, and his 15th five-wicket innings in tests. The tall left-arm paceman took a wicket with the first ball of the West Indies' second innings and three wickets in that first over - a triple-wicket maiden. Australia needed only 14.3 overs to rout the home team in the first day-night test at Sabina Park and complete a 3-0 series sweep. "It's been a fantastic series. I think we've seen some difficult batting conditions throughout,' said Starc, who claimed his 400th career test wicket in his 100th test, a memorable milestone. "It's been a good few days, very enjoyable, and I'll go home with a smile on my face.' Starc said he felt like his rhythm had been building for a month. "Today again just felt like everything was in sync,' he said. "Everyone who had the ball in hand today was on the mark straight away. "I don't think we imagined it was going to happen as quickly as it did, but when you've got an attack like ours, some things can happen like that.' Bowlers dominated the series, and the difference was batting, with Australia doing just enough to win the first two tests - by 159 runs in Barbados, then by 133 runs in Grenada - and then sweep the Frank Worrell Trophy. While Starc missed a hat-trick chance after dismissing Kevlon Anderson and Brandon King with consecutive deliveries, Boland completed his with the wickets of Justin Greaves, Shamar Joseph, and Jomel Warrican. It was the 10th test hat-trick by an Australian, and the first in 15 years. Boland finished with three wickets for two runs. The West Indies was out for its lowest test score, eclipsing the 47 against England on the same ground in 2004. At 11-6 in the sixth over it was in danger of inheriting the lowest score in test history. A misfield by 19-year-old opener Sam Konstas in the 14th over allowed the West Indies to take a single and reach 27, narrowly avoiding New Zealand's 70-year-old record of 26 set against England at Auckland in 1955. Earlier, Alzarri Joseph took 5-27 as the West Indies bowled out Australia for 121 in its second innings, leaving a chase of 204 runs for victory. Australia began Day 3 at 99-6 but lasted only eight more overs. Cameron Green, who battled hard on Day 2 to reach 42, was out to the first ball of the day, and the Australian lower order followed quickly. When the West Indies replied, Starc produced an outstanding display of fast bowling on a responsive pitch.
Kuwait Times
17 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Chelsea's ice man Palmer wins CWC Golden Ball
EAST RUTHERFORD: Cole Palmer poses with the Golden Ball trophy. — AFP EAST RUTHERFORD: 'Ice-Cole' Palmer lived up to his nickname in a scorching Club World Cup final on Sunday, scoring twice in Chelsea's 3-0 win over Paris St Germain on another broiling day at MetLife Stadium. Temperatures soared above 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 degrees Celsius) in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but the Chelsea talisman had ice in his veins as he bagged two goals in eight minutes in the first half. He earned the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament. The man of the match in their 4-1 Conference League final win over Real Betis in May, Palmer showed again that he does his best work under the biggest spotlight, as he also recorded an assist for Joao Pedro in the 43rd minute. 'I like finals. It's happened again,' he told DAZN. 'It's a great feeling,' he added. 'Even better because everyone doubted us before the game, we knew that. To put a fight on like we did, it's good.' A product of the Manchester City academy, Palmer made his senior debut with the team in September 2020 but never received the minutes on the pitch he believed he deserved, going to Chelsea three years later with the promise of more playing time. He wasted no time becoming Chelsea's new hero, firing in goals in his first season with the club, and Sunday's final marked another chapter in his success story, with Man City long ago eliminated from the tournament in the round of 16. He destroyed PSG's defence in a sensational first half on Sunday, running up and down the right channel before slotting in a tidy left-footed goal in the 22nd minute. He doubled the score eight minutes later, again targeting the bottom-left corner of the goal as the legions of blue-clad Chelsea fans erupted in elation. 'I just try and do my job every time I go on to the pitch and hopefully it can continue,' he told reporters after the match. European and French champions PSG were coming off an extraordinary season but appeared overwhelmed yet again as Palmer set up Pedro with a neat flick with two minutes left in the first half. 'Today we found a position for him where there was more space to attack,' said Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca. 'Obviously Cole played really well but the effort from all the players was fantastic.' — Reuters
Kuwait Times
17 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Trump met with boos, cheers at FIFA Club World Cup final
US president hails Pele as football GOAT EAST RUTHERFORD: US President Donald Trump paid homage to football great Pele after being met with boos and cheers from the crowd at the Club World Cup final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Chelsea walloped Paris St Germain 3-0 to close out the newly expanded version of the tournament, designed as a glittering curtain-raiser for the 2026 World Cup that the US will co-host with Mexico and Canada. Trump was seated next to FIFA boss Gianni Infantino in box seats at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where fans booed him when he appeared briefly on the jumbotron during the US national anthem. He was on his feet in the same VIP suite after Chelsea completed their thrashing of Paris St Germain, pumping his fist as congratulatory music blared. Trump was met with boos from the crowd again as he posed with the match referees on the pitch during the trophy ceremony, as organizers kept the music pumping in the stadium. He handed Chelsea their trophy and stood in the middle of the players for their team photo and celebration. 'I knew he was going to be there but I didn't know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy so I was a bit confused,' said Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer, who scored two goals during the match. Chelsea's English defender Reece James lifts the trophy with teammates and US President Donald Trump. Asked in a TV interview who he believed was football's 'GOAT,' Trump named Brazilian icon Pele, who helped spark interest in the sport in the US in his brief time playing for the New York Cosmos in the fledgling North American Soccer League in 1975. 'I came to watch Pele, and he was fantastic,' Trump told broadcaster DAZN. 'That's like saying Babe Ruth, but I would say Pele was so great.' The Republican's appearance at the game also came on the first anniversary of the assassination attempt that he survived at an election rally in Pennsylvania. Trump has made no secret of his desire to use this year's club championship and next year's 2026 World Cup as symbols of the 'Golden Age of America' during his second term in the White House. Next year's World Cup, the final of which will be held at the same stadium, will coincide with the 250th anniversary of America's independence. Trump has even set up a White House task force to ensure next year's championship — hosted jointly with Canada and Mexico — goes smoothly. 'He loves it' Trump has fostered a close relationship with Infantino, who has been a frequent visitor to the White House. The president has kept the Club World Cup trophy next to his desk in the Oval Office since the FIFA president dropped by in March. Infantino, who is no stranger to dealing with hard-nosed world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin ahead of the 2018 World Cup, thanked Trump for his support on Saturday. He said Trump had 'embraced immediately the importance of the FIFA Club World Cup, and of course of the World Cup next year.' Infantino also joked that Trump 'certainly loves as well the trophy' — whose gold-plated curves match the gilded makeover that the president has given the Oval Office. But Trump's fondness of football, or soccer as he would say, is also personal. The president's 19-year-old son Barron is a fan, as Infantino pointed out in a press conference at FIFA's new office in Trump Tower in New York on Saturday. Asked if Trump liked the game, Infantino replied: 'Well I think he does. In his first term as president of the United States, there was a soccer goal in the garden of the White House. 'He then explained to me that his son loved football, and that he loved the game. And of course when you are a parent, you love what your children love, so I think that he loves it.' As a boarding school student at the New York Military Academy, Trump himself also reportedly played the game for a season. 'Go home' But in typical form, Trump has also mixed political controversy with his football fandom. Hosting Italian side Juventus in the Oval Office in June, he delivered a diatribe on transgender people in sports before asking the players: 'Could a woman make your team, fellas?' Most of the players looked bemused before Juventus general manager Damien Comolli replied: 'We have a very good women's team.' 'He's being very diplomatic,' said Trump. Trump's hardline immigration crackdown — part of his 'America First' policy — has meanwhile sparked fears that football fans will be discouraged from coming to the United States for the 2026 World Cup. In May, Vice President JD Vance said that fans would be 'welcome to come ... but when the time is up, they will have to go home.' — Agencies
