Training load and player monitoring in the Saudi Pro League: a cross-sectional survey of practice and perceptions in 2023

Training load (TL) and player monitoring are central to injury management and performance optimization in elite football, yet practice in the Middle East has rarely been documented. This study aimed to characterize TL and player-monitoring practices in the Saudi Pro League in 2023 and benchmark them descriptively against a multinational survey. A cross-sectional online survey, based on the Training Load and Player Monitoring in High-Level Football Questionnaire and cross-culturally adapted into Arabic, was sent to the practitioner responsible for monitoring at all 16 Saudi Pro League clubs between May and August 2023. Twelve clubs responded (75%; mean experience 11.5 ± 7.5 years). Practice was described with counts and percentages; expected and actual effectiveness were compared with paired t tests and Cohen’s dz, confirmed with Wilcoxon signed-rank tests; and barriers were ranked. GPS-based time-motion analysis was near-universal in training (11/12, 92%) and matches (10/12, 83%), with accelerometers (9/12, 75%), heart-rate monitors (8/12, 67%), and the rating of perceived exertion (RPE; 8/12, 67%) common in training. Heart-rate and RPE use fell in matches to 4/12 (33%) and 3/12 (25%). External-load parameters dominated, and 11/12 (92%) clubs reported to the head coach daily. No expected–actual difference in perceived effectiveness was statistically significant: injury reduction (mean difference 0.4, 95% CI [− 0.5, 1.3]; p = .34; dz = 0.29, 95% CI [− 0.29, 0.87]), individual performance (dz = 0.08, 95% CI [− 0.49, 0.64]), and team performance (dz = 0.21, 95% CI [− 0.37, 0.78]); Wilcoxon tests agreed (all p ≥ .50). With a minimum detectable effect of dz ≈ 0.89 at 80% power, these results are inconclusive. Insufficient time and staffing was the highest-rated barrier (4.3 ± 1.0); coach understanding and buy-in (3.5 ± 1.4) and validity of field-based measures (3.5 ± 1.2) tied lowest, both above the scale midpoint. Saudi Pro League clubs employ a monitoring toolkit broadly comparable to the multinational reference sample of Akenhead and Nassis, with markedly less heart-rate monitoring. No significant expected–actual effectiveness gap was detected, but the comparison was underpowered, so equivalence cannot be concluded. Expanding specialist staffing and capturing match-day internal load are plausible development priorities.