Guardiola: Man City denied request to start next season later

The Premier League have rejected Manchester City’s request to postpone their first two games of next season to help the players recover after their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the United States, Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

City and Chelsea are the two English clubs who have qualified for the expanded month-long Club World Cup, which is set to start on June 15. The Premier League season will begin in August.

An increasingly packed calendar has been a concern among a growing number of players and managers. A report by global players’ union FIFPRO said some players get only 12% of the year to rest.

The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters outside regular business hours.

City midfielder Rodri said in September that players could be close to strike action over the time they are required to play. A knee ligament injury has since put him out for the season.

“I don’t know if we will play more games than the treble year [2022-23]. Maybe we’ll play less games,” Guardiola said.

“The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you so much. They don’t postpone these games so that will be the moment of: ‘Oh, what do we have to do?'”

Guardiola said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload.