Virgil van Dijk has warned that footballers are not robots following the publication of a new report underlining the additional stress top-level players have been faced with because of the winter World Cup.
FIFPRO’s workload survey said that 54% of players questioned have been injured felt more likely to suffer an injury, with 44% experiencing “extreme or increased physical fatigue” in the month after the tournament in Qatar.
And Liverpool centre-back Van Dijk, who injured a hamstring in one of Liverpool's first games after the World Cup, said that the game’s decision-makers must pay closer attention to the welfare of players with no let up in a schedule that is getting “busier and busier.”
