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Thursday briefing: Premier League refuses later start for Manchester City and Chelsea after Club World Cup

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6 February 2025 - 4:30 AM

The Premier League’s chief football officer Tony Scholes has said that Chelsea and Manchester City will not be permitted to start the 2025/26 season later if they get to the final of the expanded Club World Cup.

Scholes said the league’s stance is simply down to the fact the “calendar is squeezed as much as it can be”, and attributed the issue to a problem “imposed upon us, particularly by FIFA”.

Progress through the competition could create complicated decision

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