PFA chief executive Maheta Molango has told ESPN that leading players including Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden “need to be protected” from the risk of burnout and excessive workload shortening their careers, adding there will be a “price to pay” if football’s schedule continues to intensify.
And with high-profile players already talking about the prospect of strike action to resolve the matter, Molango said that “everything is possible because the future of football is at stake.”
Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham, Arsenal forward Saka and Manchester City’s Foden have all been sidelined by injury this season after helping England reach the Euro 2024 final in Germany this summer. City midfielder Rodri and Madrid defender Dani Carvajal, who were part of Spain’s Euro 2024-winning side, have both suffered season-ending ACL injuries since returning to club action this season.
Molango told ESPN in August of his concerns over the increasing demands on players ahead of a club season that will not end until mid-July for those teams, including Madrid and City, who will compete in the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup next summer.
And with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and world players’ union FIFPRO awaiting the outcome of a legal case against FIFA over player workload, Molango has said that young players such as Bellingham, Saka and Foden could be forced to accept shorter careers unless a solution is found to reduce fixture demands.
“Our view is that when you are fortunate enough to have in your ranks talents of the calibre of a Jude, of a Foden, a Declan Rice or a Saka, those guys need to be protected,” Molango told ESPN.
“I want to see Saka, Rice, Jude play for a number of years and celebrate a title for this country. But unfortunately, if we do not protect them, their ability to perform at the highest level will be hampered.
“There is no secret recipe to be fit physically and mentally and if you keep playing back-to-back season with no rest, you’ll end up paying a price. And that’s what we don’t want.
“We should all be careful of protecting those guys who are part of the heritage of English football.
“I think one of the big question marks is what would be the impact in the long run of that overload? Because we as a union also see the consequence of people when they retire in front of their body.
“And I can tell you the number of people having hip replacement, knee replacement was already big. What will happen to someone who plays consistently 60, 70 games back-to-back in back-to-back seasons? How will their hips be? How will their knee be? I think it’s a big question mark.”
Leading players including Rodri and Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker have spoken of the prospect of a players’ strike if the game’s authorities fail to act on their concerns over workload.
FIFA’s decision to stage the 63-game, four-week Club World Cup in the United States next summer has become a lightning rod for the fears of players and their unions and Molango said FIFA’S schedule for the tournament is “impossible” while warning that a strike cannot be ruled out.
“There is an international window from the 4th of June to the 10th of June,” Molango said. “So how you expect that to be four or five days before the start of the Club World Cup, it’s just impossible.
“It’s just impossible to make them [players] fit both in. So again, I think sadly this year provides a good example as to how people only look at their own calendar in isolation and this is to detriment of the best [players], but most important detriment of the show that we’re seeing on the pitch.
“I think it means that, ultimately, when someone repeatedly tries to have a voice at the table, but sees that no one listens, then this generates frustration and I think it probably fuels the more extreme views.
“And for us as a union, we are here to basically represent the players as best as we can. We’re not here to tell them what to do. We are here to make sure that whatever they decide to do, they’ll get the support of their union and we’ll be there right behind them to try to make sure that they have the voice of the table and if this takes more radical action, then we need to support them.
“I think it’s time for people to take those type of situations much more seriously because the future of football is at stake.
“When people’s frustrations reach a certain level and you see that it’s start impacting your own career and your ability to do what you love the most, which is play football, then everything is possible.”
