Manchester City joins French players' union to blast FIFA over player welfare

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is concerned about the lack of rest his side will get ahead of the new Premier League season, saying their involvement in the Club World Cup could "destroy" them.

City wrapped up the previous Premier League season on May 25 and opened their Club World Cup campaign in Philadelphia just over three weeks later on June 18.

They face Al-Hilal in Orlando on Tuesday morning in the round of 16.

If City go on to reach the final on July 13, they will have a month to prepare for their new league campaign beginning on August 16.

Guardiola said he did not know how much the Club World Cup would take out of his squad and told reporters to ask him about the impact later in the year.

"I may say, so listen, we are a disaster. We are exhausted. The World Cup destroyed us," he added.

"I don't know, but it's the first time in our life that that's happened. So we'll see."

Guardiola said he understood comments made by former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, who said the expanded 32-team event, to be held once every four years during the pre-season, was football's worst idea.

"Jürgen, we fought together many, many times … when we went to UEFA meetings especially, or when we discussed the Premier League calendar, about how to add more quality, giving the managers and players more rest," Guardiola said.

"So his comments didn't surprise me a lot … I understand his argument because I would defend his argument as well."

French players' union blasts FIFA player welfare

Guardiola's complaints about the Club World Cup come as France's union of professional footballers, Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels (UNFP), launched a scathing attack on the tournament.

The UNFP also accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of living "in an ivory tower" by ignoring the impact congested calendars have on players worldwide.

"The incongruity of the situation is not lost on anyone, except, of course, Gianni Infantino and his flatterers," a UNFP statement said this weekend.

"From the height of his ivory tower, which he parades around the world, the FIFA president is not bothered by the fate that the international calendar reserves for the game's leading players.

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has been accused of ignoring the welfare of players. (Getty Images: FIFA/Harold Cunningham)

"His [Infantino's] Club World Cup proves, to the point of absurdity, that it is urgent to stop this massacre game. He flouts the physical and mental health of players for a few more dollars."

The UNFP statement says the Club World Cup comes at the end of an already exhausting season and thereby ignores "collective bargaining agreements [which] almost everywhere, provide for an incompressible period of three weeks of rest for footballers between two seasons".

The newly expanded tournament involving 32 of the world's best teams has faced pushback since FIFA announced it would be added to an already saturated calendar.

The tournament will be played every four years, sandwiched in between the men's World Cup, European Championship and Copa America.

Reuters/AP

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