The Professional Footballers’ Association has issued a stark warning over the toll of fixture congestion, directly linking the absences of Phil Foden and Cole Palmer from this summer’s World Cup to the unrelenting demands of the modern football calendar. PFA chief executive Maheta Molango argued that the system is crippling even elite talents, with performance levels dropping as cumulative fatigue sets in.
“Less than two years ago Phil Foden was voted by his peers as the best player in the league,” Molango said. “Since then, his availability has dropped and when he has been available, it has not been the same version. Is it just a coincidence? We think not.” The Manchester City forward has played through consecutive summers with England’s Euro 2024 campaign and last year’s Club World Cup, leaving insufficient recovery time and exposing him to the kind of sustained overwork that Fifpro terms ‘cumulative fatigue’.
Molango described Foden as “one of the victims of this crazy calendar that only makes sense for those who pursue commercial gain.” The stress manifested in missed major matches due to fitness issues, ruling him out of the global showpiece. Palmer, similarly, has endured three straight summers without a proper break, featuring for England at the Euros, Chelsea at the Club World Cup, and England’s Under-21 European Championship in 2023. That unbroken cycle, Molango suggested, is simply unsustainable.
“It’s very sad we’ve seen only a glimpse of Cole Palmer during this year,” Molango added. “He has been one of those guys who have gone three consecutive summers without a break.” The PFA fears that the pattern of overwork is systematically eroding the game’s most marketable stars, leaving fans short-changed by the absence of characters who define the sport’s appeal.
New data from international union Fifpro underscores the crisis. Arsenal’s Martín Zubimendi leads all players in appearances for club and country this season with 67. Strikingly, seven of the top ten in the appearance charts belong to Premier League clubs, including Declan Rice, Virgil van Dijk, Morgan Rogers and Dominik Szoboszlai, each with 65 outings. Sandro Tonali and Cody Gakpo sit on 64. Only three non-English teams intrude on that top ten, all from Club Brugge, highlighting how the Premier League’s intensity magnifies the workload problem.
This concentration of workload among English teams reveals a structural imbalance, with the richest league placing extreme demands on its participants. Molango warned that sustained output of this kind over two to three years inevitably leads to decline, “to the detriment of the show and those who should be football heritage.” He urged protection for generational talents like Foden, Palmer, Lamine Yamal and Rodri, calling them “the 1% that make us dream,” and insisting it is a “very, very sad state of affairs” when a player of Foden’s calibre is not on the pitch.
The union is now intensifying its push for a formal seat on the Football Association Board, arguing that players must have a direct voice in decisions affecting their welfare. The move mirrors Fifpro’s recent appointment to Uefa’s executive committee, where its president David Terrier attended his first meeting in Istanbul last week. At present, the PFA lacks such institutional leverage in England, leaving player interests potentially underrepresented when key calendar and competition decisions are made.
The battle over the calendar is set to intensify. The memorandum of understanding between Fifa, confederations, leagues and Fifpro expires in 2030, with negotiations for a new deal beginning next year. Fifa’s reported plan to expand the Club World Cup to 48 teams from 2029 and Saudi Arabia’s staging of the 2034 World Cup in the European winter will further stretch players thin, disrupting two domestic seasons and exacerbating the very burnout Molango describes.
Molango’s comments place player welfare at the heart of football’s governance struggle. As nation‑state‑backed investment from the Middle East reshapes the sport, the PFA wants to ensure that the players’ union is not sidelined when key decisions are made. The union’s lobbying for an FA Board seat is a direct attempt to institutionalise that voice, echoing the incremental progress seen at Uefa. Without it, the fear is that commercial imperatives will continue to override athlete health.
The absence of Foden and Palmer from the World Cup serves as a tangible warning. Without intervention, the union says, more elite performers will break down, diminishing the quality of the sport’s most watched events and eroding the legacy of players who should be celebrated for a generation. For Molango, the lesson is clear: protect the 1% who make fans dream, or risk losing them to a schedule that never sleeps. Based on reporting from The Guardian.