Premier League Rejects Manchester City Request To Delay Next Season’s Games

The Premier League has rejected Manchester City’s request to postpone the first two games of the 2025-26 season to help the players recover after their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the US, the club’s manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

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

An increasingly packed football 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 outside regular business hours.

In September, City midfielder Rodri mentioned that players might be on the verge of strike action due to the demands of their playing time. However, a knee ligament injury has since sidelined him for the remainder of the season.

“I don’t know if we will play more games than the treble year (2022-23)… maybe we’ll play fewer games,” Guardiola told reporters.

“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?”

He stated that the Club World Cup will further complicate clubs’ efforts to manage player workloads.