Football players' association FIFPRO has published a report where they expose the contradictions in women's football: some players are forced to play too many matches per year, while others can only play too few matches per year. Two opposite prolems regarding the levels of workload, but with the same result: greater risk of injuries. And in the case of players that play too little, less professional growth.
FIFPRO describes women's professional football as a "two-speed industry". At the summit of the pyramid, some players are exposed to an increasingly high match and travel load, with very little time to rest. It is the same problem that has plagued men's football: players that are forced to play too many matches per year, specially those with international duties outside of their clubs, increasing the risk of injuries.
Aitana Bonmatí, three times Ballon d'Or Winner, made 60 appearances last season as she took Barcelona to the final of the Spanish Cup and Champions League and Spain to the finals of the Euros. She recently got injured during the Nations League finals and will be absent for five monts. And Linda Caicedo played 62 games for Real Madrid and Colombia, travelling 95,000 kilometers in 18 trips during the season.
Playing less matches increases injury risk and slows down growth
But as women's football continues to grow at different rates around the world, inequelities surge where some players don't have access to enough competitive games (countries with smaller leagues and less competitions), something that also increases risk of injury. And that's not all: playing less matches results in less options to develop professionally, less chances to sign for bigger clubs or be called to their national teams.
The report points that in France and Germany's top divisions, an average player only plays 13 or 14 games per season. In Italy, AS Roma players had on average 90 percent more playing time than Sampdoria players, even if they were in the same league.
"A shortage of domestic and international games is putting most other players at risk of developmental challenges and injury", says FIFPRO. "The report calls for league expansion and investment, along with protected employment for players, and appeals for confederations to invest to provide environments in which national team players can thrive."