The two English teams that have earned a spot in the extended Club World Cup, which begins on June 15, are City and Chelsea. August is when the Premier League season kicks off.

According to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, the Premier League has turned down the team’s request to move the team’s opening two 2025–26 games to aid in the players’ recuperation following their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the United States.

The two English teams that have earned a spot in the extended Club World Cup, which begins on June 15, are City and Chelsea. August is when the Premier League season kicks off.

A growing number of players and managers are becoming concerned about an increasingly busy football calendar. According to a research by the global players’ union FIFPRO, some players only get 12 percent of the year off.

Outside of regular business hours, the Premier League did not immediately react to a request for comment.

In September, Rodri, a midfielder for City, stated that during their mandatory playing time, players might be in danger of being struck out. Since then, he has missed the entire season due to a knee ligament injury.

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

“We are unable to postpone the first two games in order to recover, according to the Premier League. I really appreciate it. These games aren’t postponed, so at that point we’ll have to decide what to do.

He stated that clubs will find it much harder to control player workloads as a result of the Club World Cup.