Pep Guardiola said Manchester City have had their request to postpone the first two games of the 2025/26 season to recover from their participation in the Fifa Club World Cup rejected by the Premier League.
City and Chelsea are the two English clubs who have qualified for the expanded month-long Club World Cup set to start on June 15 in the United States. The Premier League's season will begin in August.
The ever-expanding football calendar has been the hot topic to start this season. A report by global players' union FIFPRO said some players get only 12 per cent of the year to rest.
Players and managers have complained about the fixture congestion. One of those was City's Spanish midfielder Rodri, who last month said players were close to going on strike over the issue. Rodri cited fitness and fatigue as a major concern and, in a cruel twist of irony, then suffered a season-ending knee ligament injury in the 2-2 draw against Arsenal on September 22.
This comes at a time of strained relations between the club and league as City face a hearing into 115 charges of alleged rule-breaking, including a failure to co-operate with an investigation. City deny all charges.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s clash with Fulham, Guardiola said: “The Premier League [has] not allowed us to postpone – and Chelsea, I think, all the teams that will go to the World Cup – the first two games to have more recovery. Thank you so much! They don’t postpone these games.
“I think the club asked the Premier League, [for] the first or second game, to postpone it one or two, three weeks, in the middle [of the] week, to have one more week or two more weeks’ holidays after the World Cup.”
Asked to clarify if a request had not been allowed, Guardiola said: “Absolutely not. The Premier League say yes to us? No. Absolutely not. It’s not going to happen.”
The Premier League are yet to comment on Guardiola's claims.
Delaying the start of the 2025/26 season is problematic because it concludes with the next international World Cup. There are also fewer midweek dates available for rearranged matches following the recent expansion of European club competitions.
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John Stones celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal in their 2-2 Premier League draw with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on September 22, 2024. AFP -
City defender John Stones scores to make it 2-2. AP -
John Stones celebrates after scoring Manchester City's late leveller. Getty Images -
A dejected Ben White of Arsenal after Manchester City's late goal. Reuters -
Riccardo Calafiori celebrates after scoring for Arsenal in the 22nd minute. Getty Images -
Gabriel heads home Arsenal's second goal in first-half injury time. Reuters -
Arsenal players react as referee Michael Oliver shows a red card to Leandro Trossard, centre. Getty Images -
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta remonstrates with the fourth official after Leandro Trossard's sending off. AP -
Arsenal defender Gabriel celebrates after scoring. PA -
Riccardo Calafiori scores for Arsenal to make it 1-1. Getty Images -
Manchester City's Kyle Walker argues with referee Michael Oliver after Riccardo Calafiori's goal for Arsenal. PA -
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. AP -
Erling Haaland puts Manchester City 1-0 up after nine minutes. Reuters -
City midfielder Rodri after picking up an injury that saw him taken off early in the game. PA -
A big screen at the Etihad Stadium highlights fact that Erling Haaland has reached 100 goals for Manchester City. Getty Images -
Arsenal defender Gabriel heads over the bar in the first half. Reuters -
Erling Haaland celebrates with teammates after scoring for Manchester City. Getty Images
He said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload.
He said: “It’s going to happen [tiredness]. I don’t know if we’re going to play more games than the treble year [2022/23], maybe we’ll play less games, but in the end, the big difference is when you finish the season and you [normally] go on holidays, you have to go to the States to play the World Cup. That is the moment we’re going to fight.”
