Revealed: How winter World Cup has contributed to sharp rise in Premier League injuries - as Man Utd and Chelsea bear the brunt

Howden’s 2022/23 Men's European Football Injury Index has found that players from Europe's top five leagues who went to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar last winter needed, on average, eight days longer on the sidelines to recover from injuries suffered after the tournament (19.4 days) compared to before (11.4 days). In the Premier League, there was a decrease in the overall number of injuries, but severity went up and players were sidelined for around a week longer in 2022-23 (23.6 days) compared to 2021/22 (16 days). That meant an increase in what injuries cost clubs - up to £255 million ($319m) from £185m ($231m) - from wages paid to injuried players. Manchester United and Nottingham Forest suffered a joint-high 69 injuries, while Chelsea's 68 injuries cost them just over £40m - the most in the league. Only the Bundesliga (1,226) experienced more injuries than the Premier League (946) in Europe's top five leagues last season.

The World Cup was moved from its usual May/June/July timeframe to November and December to avoid matches being played in Qatar's searing summer heat, protecting the welfare of players, staff and fans. But that meant pausing the 2022/23 European club season, with a minimal break for players before or after, and major scrutiny over fixture congestion later in the campaign.

James Burrows, Head of Sport, Howden said: "We've seen clearly that the staging of a men's World Cup in a European winter led to players facing an extra eight days on the sidelines in the second half of the season, compared to the first. The impact was consistent across domestic leagues such as the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga, with the increased injury severity contributing to the financial impact rising by almost 30% from €553.62m to €704.89m across the top five men's European leagues."

Clubs seemingly have no other option but to lobby and petition football's various governing bodies to better protect players, perhaps by capping or even reducing the number of games on the calendar. But it's worth noting that next season's change to the Champions League format, with the group stage replaced by a league phase, will actually add two games, plus an additional knockout round for some teams.