November 11 – Maheta Molango, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) has told ESPN that leading players at the elite levels of football need to be protected.
Molango, a former professional footballer himself, hails from Switzerland and spent time in Spain, Germany, England and Spain, before embarking on a career in law. He says that the likes of 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.
With strike talk becoming more than a whisper with the top players, Molango said that “everything is possible because the future of football is at stake.”
This season has already seen the three aforementioned players sidelined with injuries. Whether the additional workload of the Euros where England made the final is a contributing factor is u pfor debate. What can’t be questioned is the loss of Manchester City’s and Ballon d’or winner Rodri as he succumbed to a season – ending ACL injury.
With the 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.
In the ESPN interview, Molango states: “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 seasons 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.
“I think it’s time for people to take those types of situations much more seriously because the future of football is at stake.”
With the FIFA Club World Cup jammed into the schedule, it feels like the breaking point has arrived.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1734912842labto1734912842ofdlr1734912842owedi1734912842sni@o1734912842fni1734912842