Players threaten legal action over grueling schedule: PFA CEO

• The PFA CEO warns players that they may take legal action against the congested schedule.
• The UEFA Champions League expansion adds more matches.
• Premier League managers raise concerns about player fatigue.

The Professional Footballers’ Association’s Chief Executive Officer, Maheta Molango, has stated that players may be obliged to take legal action owing to the crowded schedule.

The UEFA Champions League group stage will rise to 36 teams from 32, competing in a single-league system, beginning the 2024–25 season. Under the new system, every team will play a minimum of eight games.

A few Premier League managers have voiced their worries about the players’ workload and its effects.

“I feel like we’ve reached a stage where people are ready to take legal action, where people are ready to take tangible action on the pitch to try to resolve it, because it’s a sad state of affairs,” Molango told Sky News.

“I think it’s a defeat for football when the players need to take the justice in their own hands because they don’t feel protected.”

A new Intercontinental Cup will be held annually starting in 2024, and FIFA’s redesigned Club World Cup, which will include 32 teams and be hosted in 2025, will take place from June 15 to July 13.

The European teams that qualify will only have a short break between the 2024–25 and 2025–26 seasons due to the Club World Cup dates.

Molango responded, “I think that the players are ready now to take a strong stance,” when asked if the competition’s organizers run the risk of destroying football.

“I do think that the authorities who are supposed to protect the players and protect the games are not doing that. They are generating more competitions, generating more income to the detriment of the players.”

He went on to say that it is “physically, humanly impossible” for the players to compete at their peak level given the current schedule.

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