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Sport

PFA chief says England's Nations League withdrawals expose football's workload crisis

PFA chief executive Maheta Molango says the withdrawal of five England stars from the Nations League squad proves football's overloaded calendar is driving elite players beyond their limits.

By Tom Ellery · · 2 min read

Cole Palmer’s withdrawal from England’s Nations League squad is proof that football’s overloaded calendar is driving elite players beyond their limits, PFA chief executive Maheta Molango said on Tuesday.

Palmer, Marcus Rashford, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo and Tino Livramento all pulled out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad ahead of the latest international window.

“When we in England see five players need to withdraw from a call-up, which is the single most proud moment that you have as a player to be called up for the national team, then you just ask yourself: what’s wrong about the industry?” Molango told reporters at the Peak Performance & Health Summit in London.

“He’s missing because he is a victim of the calendar, and I think that’s something that needs to absolutely trigger the alarm bell,” Molango said of Palmer, who would have played four consecutive summers had he featured at this year’s World Cup.

Molango said England’s withdrawals reflected a wider pattern, citing Nations League injuries to Germany’s Kai Havertz, Dutch striker Brian Brobbey and France captain Kylian Mbappe. “Is it a football where the people who make us dream just cannot perform? For me, it’s very worrying.”

He attacked the structures behind the calendar: “The solution is for governing bodies, who are here not to make money but to preserve the game, to refocus on what really matters… It is a system that is sick, because the system ultimately revolved around obtaining votes and not for what is good for football.”

Rejecting any suggestion the players lacked commitment, Molango added: “They love to play for England. They love to play for their national team… But unfortunately your body puts a limit to it. You cannot cheat biology.”

The PFA and FIFPRO have repeatedly warned the calendar is unsustainable. Tuchel, meanwhile, responded to Palmer’s withdrawal with frustration, saying the forward “misses too many opportunities”.

Sources

More on this topic: all Sport stories

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