This is the week Manchester City launch a new assault on the Champions League against the backdrop of a legal battle with the Premier League, but the club's star midfielder Rodri managed to steer the conversation in an unexpected direction on Tuesday.
Asked about the increasing demands being placed on Europe's top players, he gave a tough response: “We are getting close (to a strike),” Rodri told reporters at a press conference ahead of City's match against Inter Milan. “It is the general opinion of the players and if it continues like this we have no other choice.”
The debate over the football calendar continues endlessly, but Rodri's comments seemed like a key moment. One of the Premier League's most talented stars and a leading contender for next month's Ballon d'Or, he was willing to make it clear that a strike was on the table for him and his peers.
A genuine threat or just a bluff? Athletic Evaluates how realistic a player's strikes are in an ongoing battle.
Why is a player like Rodri upset?
Footballers, at least at the top of the game, feel too much is being asked of them: The expansion of the game has robbed them of opportunities for rest, and established international stars regularly exceed the 55-game season threshold recommended by the international footballers' federation, FIFPro.
The uncertainty is only deepening this season, with a new UEFA Champions League format adding two group games to the schedules of participating clubs and, in the summer, FIFA launching a new Club World Cup from June 15 to July 13.
The 2024-25 season began with Rodri and his Manchester City teammates theoretically facing 75 games for club and country. “It's too many,” Rodri said on Tuesday. “It's not all about money or marketing. It's about the quality of the matches. We perform better when we're not tired.”
In a brief text, Rodri pointed to the nuclear button in the players' arsenal. There has long been a sense of not being listened to, a feeling that has been cemented by a gradual expansion under both UEFA and FIFA coaches. Pre-season and end-of-season trips mean long distances to travel and are an unpleasant ritual that players have had to accept.
Rodri made 50 appearances across six competitions for Manchester City last season (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
But over the past six months, a coordinated response has taken place.
Two of Europe's largest players' associations, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) and France's National Federation of Professional Footballers' Unions, filed a lawsuit against FIFA in June, challenging the lawfulness of the governing body's “unilateral” setting of international soccer's match calendar.
A month later, the Europa League, which represents professional football in 30 European countries, including the Premier League, joined forces with La Liga and FIFPro Europe to lodge a formal complaint against FIFA with the European Commission.
FIFPro said the new Club World Cup had “become too tenacious” and a tough battle had now begun with players at the forefront, who say enough is enough.
How do strikes actually work?
Rodri may have suggested a strike is “close”, but there are still several stops to go before reaching that point. This would need to be coordinated through the PFA or FIFPro and would be seen as a last resort if all negotiations with stakeholders fail.
The PFA, English football's only players' union, would theoretically have to ask its nearly 5,000 members whether they supported a strike, which would then need to be backed by a majority in a vote.
All affected competitions, whether run by the Premier League, English Football League, English Football Association, UEFA or FIFA, would also have the option of taking retaliatory legal action to thwart the planned strike.
“We've been trying really hard to negotiate with the relevant stakeholders,” PFA chief executive Maheta Molango told The Athletic FC podcast last week. “So we've been trying our best to reach a diplomatic solution. Legal action is always a loss for everyone.”
“But when adults can't come to a solution, they need a third party to make the decision.”
PFA chief executive Maheta Molango (Stephen Paston/PA Images via Getty Images)
Has anything like this ever happened before in English football?
As far back as November 2001, there was a real threat of one of English football's biggest names departing. The Football Association was exhausted from negotiations with the Premier League, which was seeking a reduction in the Association's traditional share of domestic broadcasting rights from 5% to 2%.
After three months of talks failed to reach an agreement, a strike vote was called. 99% of players voted in favour of boycotting televised matches. The strike date was set for December 1. PFA chairman Gordon Taylor claimed that their position was supported by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and players such as Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs.
There were legal threats and injunctions, but the strike was ultimately averted after eight hours of talks between the Premier League and the PFA in Manchester, and while Taylor didn't get everything he wanted, the £17.5 million ($23 million at today's rates) offer was ultimately deemed satisfactory.
In 2001, Gordon Taylor announced that more than 99% of PFA members had voted in favour of a strike (Phil Noble – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
Digging further into the history of English football, back to 1960, we arrive at a far more pivotal moment. The PFA, under the banner of Jimmy Hill, tried to remove the £20 per week cap on players' wages and resorted to the threat of strikes to finally force the FA and the Football League to cave in in 1961.
What about in other countries and other sports?
Labor disputes are far more common in the United States, where the power of players' unions is felt to a greater extent.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) experienced three lockouts in the late 1990s and one that lasted five months in 2011, the same year the National Football League (NFL) experienced its own lockout after players and owners were unable to agree on a revised collective bargaining agreement.
Major League Baseball is facing a lockout in 2022 for the ninth time in the league's history, and the National Hockey League is no stranger to tense negotiations, player power and owner intransigence.
But comparisons with European football are largely meaningless: England's elite players play in matches organised by the Premier League, EFL, FA, UEFA and FIFA over the course of a season, and the presence of multiple stakeholders always complicates negotiations over association member benefits.
Which sports are most susceptible to player strikes?
That's a whole unknown, but what is certain is that the relationship between the PFA and the Premier League is strong at the moment – 23 years ago the two were at odds over Taylor and Richard Scudamore's feud, but they have worked closely together in recent times – and it's no coincidence that the PFA filed suit against FIFA in the same summer they helped the Premier League launch another suit.
The PFA, and by extension FIFPro, are not bothered by the domestic programme as it remains largely unchanged, and they also have sympathy for the FA and EFL, whose competitions have been curtailed to such an extent that forced reforms have been made in the modern era, so the threat of a strike seems unlikely to target them in that way.
With relations between the PFA and UEFA becoming more harmonious as talks deepen, could the target be aimed at FIFA instead?
FIFA determines the schedule of international competitions and has been the target of much anger since the introduction of the Club World Cup revamp. FIFA's defence may be knowledgeable and robust – pointing out that FIFA-sponsored matches are only a small part of the players' workload – but federations have voiced their frustration.
The Club World Cup is also a tournament that is struggling to secure broadcast and sponsorship deals before next summer, so it seems like the perfect target for players who want to make their mark.
Going deeper
With just a year to go until the Club World Cup in the USA, what's going on?
What are the chances of a strike?
The easiest thing to do would be to dismiss Rodri's comments as empty talk, but the concerns run deep, and the union has stressed that if meaningful changes to the schedule are not made, it will be time for players to stand up.
But what that will look like and when it will arrive are questions with no easy answers. Workload issues have multiple stakeholders wanting more, and the next challenge will be how to put the toothpaste back in the tube.
The players' union ultimately wants a more prominent role in governance, which is why they filed suit against FIFA, a move to make their voice heard and ease their demands on member countries.
The initial case against FIFA, filed in June at the Brussels Commercial Court, will probably make its way to the European Court of Justice at some point next year, with the final decision there determining the way forward for all parties. The players' association hopes that this will mean a weakening of FIFA's powers over the international match calendar, leading to longer-term reforms.
Regardless of the likelihood of a strike, it remains problematic. I conclude with a comment from Stephen Taylor Heath, head of sports law at JMW Solicitors: Athletic In June.
“This is very much a question of employment law between players and clubs,” he said. “There has always been an uneasy relationship between employment law and football.”
And maybe it will be a little more confusing.
(Top photo: Getty Images. Design: Dan Goldfarb)
