The prospect of an unprecedented Premier League strike was mooted by Pep Guardiola on Thursday amid the escalating row around players’ fatigue.
Crisis talks involving managers and senior players failed to lead to major breakthroughs on Thursday night, but unions rallied behind Guardiola after he raised the possibility of industrial action.
The Manchester City manager immediately couched his suggestion by saying a strike will not happen “because we want to play”. However, amid mounting anger at the packed Christmas schedule taking place while Covid rates soar, the Professional Footballers’ Association warned: “This isn’t going away”.
“Players don’t choose to speak out on issues like this without having given it a lot of thought,” said Maheta Molango, the Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive.
“Now it’s up to those who run the game at all levels to begin to take this seriously so it’s an issue that can be addressed constructively with players at the heart of the conversation.”
Two meetings were held on Thursday, one with managers and one with captains and senior players, after club executives elected earlier this week not to implement a firebreak due to rising Covid cases.
To add to the sense of anxiety within squads, Covid outbreaks at Leeds United and Watford caused two further postponements. The league apologised to fans for fresh Boxing Day disruption, which also caused chaos for BT Sport as the postponed fixtures were the only two being played in the broadcaster’s 12.30pm slot. BT had been due to broadcast from Anfield, but will now show Tottenham against Crystal Palace, which remains at 3pm.
The fixtures became the 11th and 12th top-flight matches postponed as a consequence of the virus in recent weeks, prompting Guardiola to raise the possibility of radical action.
Suggesting a strike may be the only way to get the authorities to listen, he told reporters: “Should the players and the managers be all together and make a strike, or something, because just through words it’s not going to be solved?”
However, when asked how likely industrial action was, he added: “No, I don’t think so because we want to play. We want to continue – to make the people happy going to the stadium on the 26th, 27th, 29th, 31st and 1st, and play games, because we love to do that.”
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has been one of the leading voices in describing the toll being placed on teams as the Covid surge depletes squads. He has said earlier this week he was “concerned” that “nobody really takes player welfare seriously”.
Despite all the criticism, the matches on December 28 and 29 remain likely to go ahead as planned. Sources at the managers’ meeting on Thursday said talks failed to lead to any breakthroughs, with only a minority of coaches saying the games must be cancelled.
