Considerations are underway to scrap mid-Season breaks in the Premier League due to the overcrowding of the football calendar.
The new rules, if set, could take effect in the 2024–2025 season, with FIFA’s rebuilt 32-team Club World Cup scheduled for the summer of 2025.
The Premier League implemented the break in 2018, which took the form of a planned two week interval to reduce the stress on players.
Richard Masters, the CEO, admits that it is being discussed because it may become impractical.
“It is one of the things we are discussing with the FA [Football Association] and EFL [English Football League].
“We want the Premier League, the big cup competitions, and the EFL to flourish, and that requires an adjustment,” he said.
“It is the last season where it’s recognizable under the current international match calendar, where the Premier League starts on a particular weekend.
“The FA Cup final has its weekend, and you have the Champions League after that and a mid-Season player break in the middle.
“A lot will have to change because of the additional European dates. We are also very aware of the changes to FIFA’s competitions.
“The World Cup is getting bigger; an additional group stage game is going to be added. Inevitably, that’s going to take up more calendar space.
“You have the views of the players’ union, and the player’s views are being expressed very strongly now.
“From a league perspective, the European Leagues and World Leagues Forum are very clear on this: there has to be a forum for domestic competitions to discuss the impact of regional and global decisions on the calendar.
“There’s lots of dialogue with UEFA, very little dialogue with FIFA.”
Over the first weekend of the EFL season, there was nearly double the typical number of yellow cards issued as the crackdown on time wasting and player behavior took effect”.
Masters anticipates the same in the Premier League until players and managers adjust to the new laws.
“I think these things will level out,” he added. “It’s not the first crackdown that the governing bodies have had, about surrounding referees, for example.
“Players and managers need time to adjust, and actually, the officials need time to adjust.
“But over some time, rather than it sort of dissipating and not having an impact, everyone’s behavior adjusts and things settle down.
“There will be more yellow cards. I don’t know whether doubling the number of yellow cards is a good thing or a bad thing.
“It certainly sends a message that the officials are true to their word.”
