Premier League Faces Challenge from Manchester City and Chelsea Over 2025 Club World Cup Participation
Reports have revealed that Chelsea and Manchester City are facing a major issue with the Premier League due to their participation in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
Both Manchester City and Chelsea will compete in the Club World Cup, which will follow a new format in the United States, from 14 June to 13 July.
The new Premier League season, 2025/26, will start on 16 August, meaning the two teams won’t have enough rest if they progress to the final in the United States.
Pep Guardiola had already mentioned that Manchester City asked to delay the first two matches of the new season for the defending champion, due to the timing of the Club World Cup and the difficulty of properly preparing.
However, according to the Metro newspaper, Premier League officials have refused to give Manchester City and Chelsea any special treatment because of their participation in the new tournament.
Tony Skolls, the CEO of Premier League Football, explained that the match schedule has already reached its limit, and they cannot give City or Chelsea extra time off. He also criticised FIFA harshly.
He added: “Why should we change our competition schedule when they’ve imposed a tournament we don’t agree with? That’s part of it, but the most important point is that we simply cannot; the competition is already as big as it can be right now, and we can’t afford to delay the start of the season.”
Many Premier League teams will have already returned to pre-season training while the Club World Cup is still ongoing, which could cause frustration for Chelsea and Manchester City.
Manchester City is in Group 7 of the Club World Cup, alongside Morocco’s Wydad, UAE’s Al Ain, and Italy’s Juventus.
Chelsea is in Group 4 with Brazil’s Flamengo, Tunisia’s Esperance, and Mexico’s Club León.
