Pep Guardiola says the Premier League has turned down a request from Manchester City and Chelsea to postpone their opening matches of next season.
Both clubs will be involved in the inaugural Fifa Club World Cup, which is due to take place in the United States between June 15 and July 13.
City made a request to the league to allow them more time for their players to recover and, although there is yet to be a formal decision, the club do not expect the decision to go their way.
That is certainly Guardiola’s interpretation, having revealed that the request had been made when discussing the impact of the new competition on his players’ fitness during this season and beyond.
“The Premier League did not allow us and Chelsea to postpone the first games to help with our recovery — thank you so much,” he said. “So if they do not postpone these games it will be, ‘Oh, what do we have to do?’.
“I don’t have an answer right now because I have never been there before, I don’t know. We are going to take a decision, I would say, with common sense. We are going to see the players and schedule.”
Guardiola also scoffed at the idea that the Premier League would afford City this kind of support when asked to clarify if the club’s request would be permitted: “Absolutely not. The Premier League say yes to us? No. Absolutely not.”
When approached for comment, the Premier League confirmed that informal discussions were held but no formal request was made, stating that this was an example of the challenges that domestic leagues would face as a result of the alterations to the football calendar made by FIFA.
(Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
