The Premier League’s chief executive has revealed the future of its mid-season break is under discussion because of the expansion of the Champions League next season. Richard Masters believes it will “require an adjustment” to allow domestic competitions to flourish in the new tightly packed calendar.
Uefa’s flagship competition will increase from 32 to 36 teams next season with the introduction of a new league format that means the number of matches played will rise from 125 to 189. Five Premier League clubs rather than four could be eligible. Fifa has announced its intention to expand the Club World Cup to 32 teams starting in 2025, plans criticised by the international players’ union Fifpro for creating conditions which “further increase pressure on player workload”, and the 2026 World Cup will contain 48 teams – up from 32.
The Premier League introduced its winter break in the 2018-19 season after pressure from clubs to bring it into line with most of Europe’s top leagues, but the break was dispensed with last year when the World Cup took place in November and December in Qatar. The break is scheduled to return on 13 January, with clubs playing either on that weekend or the next before a full midweek round on 30-31 January, but Masters said it remained to be seen whether it would continue.
“It is one of the things we are discussing with the FA and EFL,” he said. “We want the Premier League, the big cup competitions and the EFL to flourish and that requires an adjustment. It is the last season where it’s recognisable under the current international match calendar, where the Premier League starts on a particular weekend and the FA Cup final has its own weekend and you have the Champions League after that, a mid-season player break in the middle.
“A lot will have to change because of the additional European dates. We are also very much aware of the changes to Fifa’s competitions. The World Cup is getting bigger, an additional game. Inevitably that’s going to take up more calendar space.”
Masters added: “You obviously have the views of the players’ union and the players being expressed very strongly now. From a league’s perspective, the European Leagues and World Leagues Forum are very clear on this: there has to be a forum for domestic competitions to be able to discuss the impact of regional and global decisions on the calendar. There’s lots of dialogue with Uefa, very little dialogue with Fifa.”
When pressed on the Premier League’s limited discussions with Fifa, Masters said he had been “underwhelmed by the amount of interaction we have” through the World Leagues Forum lobbying group. “We are not against national team football. We think it is a brilliant part of the system. It is all about the balance.”
Masters said there were no plans to remove the blackout on broadcasting matches at 3pm on a Saturday when the next auction for television rights takes place this year and that hosting a match outside the United Kingdom was not under consideration despite the league opening an office in Manhattan last month.
He was adamant that the crackdown on time-wasting being implemented by officials under new stricter guidelines from the law-makers the International Football Association Board is here to stay. “There will be more yellow cards,” said Masters. “I don’t know whether a doubling of yellow cards is a good thing or a bad thing. It certainly sends a message that the officials are true to their word.”
