August 15 – Premier League boss Richard Masters has re-iterated that no matches will be played overseas despite nine top-flight clubs being majority-owned by Americans.
The concept was first mooted in 2008 and met with an immediate backlash from domestic supporters.
Discussions have intensified in recent months but Masters insists it is not going to happen.
“I need to say it – there are no plans to play matches abroad in the Premier League and that’s the starting point,” Masters told broadcasters.
“I think if there is any change in the structure of the competition that is material, fans should be consulted. But I don’t think it’s going to happen, it’s not part of the plans, so to that extent, I think it’s a slightly moot point.”
Meantime, Masters warned that football will reach breaking point if matches keep being added to the calendar, the latest senior figure to add his name to the debate.
The Premier League is part of a legal challenge against FIFA over the expanding calendar arguing there has been insufficient consultation and highlighting risks to player welfare.
“I think that we will reach a point of saturation,” said Masters. “We are seeing FIFA generally expanding their competitions, so you’ve got a bigger World Cup coming up in 2026 and we’ve got a new competition in the Club World Cup in 2025.
“What we are principally concerned with is not necessarily the decisions. We’re concerned about the process within which they are taken.”
“The issue is that the Club World Cup is a month long and ends in the middle of July, and it’s not a national team competition where you have a sprinkling of players from different clubs that can be accommodated at the start of a season.
“If our clubs get to the final of those competitions, what sort of teams are they going to be able to field at the beginning of the start of a Premier League season when we have an obligation to the players to give them three weeks rest, which they won’t get? So in the end it doesn’t add up and so a new accommodation has to be reached.”
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