Intense post-season tours and Club World Cup means that players are unable to properly recover after a hard and gruelling season
The head of the Professional Footballers’ Association has criticised post-season tours and the growing fixture list for football clubs, warning that the additional workload risks compromising player welfare.
Speaking in the aftermath of Manchester United’s chaotic post-season tour of Malaysia and Hong Kong, PFA chief executive Maheta Molango raised serious concerns about the demands being placed on players after an already congested season.
“We’re all mindful and understand some of the financial dynamics the club goes through, but the reality is that quite a few players have expressed concern,” said Molango. “We have expressed concern about these post-season tours.”
United’s tour quickly unravelled following a 1-0 defeat to an Asean All Stars side in Kuala Lumpur, where they were booed off the pitch. The fallout worsened when Amad Diallo was seen raising his middle finger at fans outside the team hotel. The winger later said he had been responding to personal abuse directed at his mother.
There was some positivity after United were inspired by youngster Chido Obi-Martin to a 3-1 comeback win against Hong Kong XI, avoiding another humiliating defeat.
Despite the controversy associated with the trip, the club expect to bring in around £10 million.
Molango also took aim at the nature of pre-season scheduling, with Arsenal and Tottenham due to face off in Hong Kong next month in what will be the first ever north London derby held outside the UK. The PFA chief questioned the logic of staging intense fixtures between fierce rivals at a time when players are only just returning to full fitness.
“You cannot just turn up at the derby with flip-flops,” Molango said. “Sometimes there’s this misunderstanding that, yes, [pre-season] is about resting, but then having a proper ability to build up to that level of intensity and that level of game.”
The debate over football’s bloated calendar continues to gather pace, particularly in light of the expanded Club World Cup, which begins on 15 June and will see clubs like Manchester City, Real Madrid and Inter Milan compete in the United States.
In October, European Leagues, La Liga and global players’ union FifPro lodged a formal complaint against FIFA, accusing the governing body of “abusive and anti-competitive” behaviour in unilaterally expanding the calendar.
While FIFA has begun discussions with complainants, a swift resolution appears unlikely. For Molango, the problem needs to be tackled wholly, not just trying to fix different aspects of it.
“I’m not just talking about Manchester United, I’m talking in general about the situation,” he said. “This once again confirms the need of taking a holistic approach to the problem because you aren’t going to solve it if you just attack one specific competition.”
