FIFPRO SLAM FIFA schedule as Chelsea ace faces brutal trip around the globe

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez is facing almost a complete circumnavigation of the globe in the coming weeks as football’s increasingly ridiculous schedule comes under fire once more.

The 2024/25 season is an unprecedented one, with the new and ‘improved’ FIFA Club World Cup disrupting the summer. Due to the tournament in the US, some players are having to deal with a never-before-seen workload as football’s schedule becomes ever more gruelling.

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The sport’s players’ union, FIFPRO, is in the midst of a bitter struggle with football’s governing bodies to better protect the welfare of the game’s protagonists.

For May Day, FIFPRO is endeavouring to make it clear that footballers are workers too. The huge financial disparity between elite athletes and the average worker notwithstanding, players are ultimately employees who need fundamental rights and protection, too.

“One of the big labour challenges in terms of humanising our athletes is making clear that they’re working people,” FIFPRO stated in a video on their social channels. “Footballers are not commodities in the business of football. They are workers.”

READ MORE: FIFA Club World Cup – Draw, fixtures, dates and prize money

Fernandez’s 34,000 km travel schedule

Using the example of Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez, FIFPRO previously highlighted just how ridiculous football’s schedule is becoming in the context of player welfare.

Due to national team commitments with Argentina in June and Chelsea’s participation at the Club World Cup, Fernandez is predicted to travel around 34,000 kilometres in the coming weeks, which is just 6,000 km short of a full circumnavigation of the globe.

Should Chelsea reach the final of the UEFA Conference League, which they are firmly expected to do, Fernandez will cover that massive distance in the space of just seven weeks, leaving little time for recovery between games.

Winning the Club World Cup would yield an eye-watering prize money in excess of €100m, so Chelsea will likely field their Best XI at the tournament, which will surely include Fernandez.

By the time the competition concludes in mid-July, the new domestic season will only be a couple of weeks away. Fernandez, who has played 55 games since June 2024 – including last year’s Copa America – is facing another brutal summer. And the grind will start anew just a few weeks later.

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