Women play too much or too little, says Fifpro

The growth of women's football has created a worrisome gulf in the sport, with some players stretched by their increasingly packed calendars but many others with too few games, a report by global players' union Fifpro said.

LONDON - The growth of women's football has created a worrisome gulf in the sport, with some players stretched by their increasingly packed calendars but many others with too few games, a report by global players' union Fifpro said.

The study compiled with Football Benchmark showed that some players had 60-plus games last season, while others played fewer than 10, largely due to new or expanded competitions in Europe and North America with little or no development elsewhere.

While Fifpro's study of 300 players found that Mariona Caldentey, now at Arsenal, played the highest number with 64 games for Barcelona and Spain, the average was 33 games, which even with season breaks is less than a game a week.