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Guardiola: English Premier League denies Man City’s plea to postpone games post Club World Cup
Manchester City’s manager Pep Guardiola said the English Premier League has rejected the club’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. — Reuters pic

LONDON, Oct 5 — 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 yesterday.

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. The Premier League’s season will begin in August.

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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 per cent of the year to rest.

The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request for comment 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 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 said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload. — Reuters

A general view of the Super Bowl LIII signage at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium exterior in Atlanta, one of the 12 stadiums set to host the 2025 Club World Cup in this file picture taken on January 30, 2019. — Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports pic via Reuters

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