Manchester City midfielder Rodri said on Tuesday that players were close to taking strike action over their increased workload. The Spain midfielder played 63 competitive games for club and country last season, and featured for 6,107 minutes between July 2023 and July 2024, including pre-season friendlies. He spoke out a day after Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson said players were not being listened to and that no-one was close to a solution to fixture congestion. A recent report said a player welfare 'red line' was a maximum of between 50 and 60 matches per season, depending on a player's age. But is strike action likely? Is it even possible? What are the legalities behind it all? BBC Sport has taken a look at some of the questions. How many players does this extreme workload issue affect? A recent study of player workload by the CIES Football Observatory - a research group at the International Centre for Sports Studies - suggested most clubs were not playing more matches per season than they were 12 years ago. The report said only 0.31% of players featured in 61 or more games; another 1.8% played 51-60 games; and another 6.8% played 41-50 games a season. It found that between 2012 and 2024, the average number of fixtures per club per season was just over 40, with about 5% of clubs playing 60 or more games per season. It looked at the workloads of between 18,000 and 21,000 professional footballers across 40 leagues over 12 years, finding an average of 22.7 matches per player. Minutes played has remained largely stable. Do players want to strike? Southampton manager Russell Martin said he didn't think his players were interested in striking after their promotion to the Premier League. He said: We've gone from 50 games to 38 and a couple of cup games so I think our lads will be delighted. But he did add: I think something's going to give at some point. I think that will be that the quality will be diluted at the top level. The top players... you'll see less of them because of injuries, so I think he [Rodri] has a very good point and I think it needs to be looked at - the welfare of the guys playing internationals and the Champions League. Ross Meadows, head of employment at law firm Oury Clark, said: In practice, I think this will be a last resort if co-ordinated through the Professional Footballers' Association or Fifpro as there are significant legal hurdles to overcome to have a lawful strike, including a ballot to all members and notice to the Premier League clubs. The PFA, for example, typically seeks to resolve disputes through negotiations rather than strikes. Historically, football players have avoided strike action in favour of collective bargaining and pressure through their union. Former England and Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart said on BBC Radio 5 Live that Rodri and Alisson were just speaking from their hearts. Two players there that are going to speak honestly, he said. They're not rash guys, they're not guys who sensationalise everything. I'm sure they just answered questions. Rodri, in particular, was asked whether they're close to going on strike. I don't think in the forefront of his mind was thinking 'you know what we are up to... that is actually the plan'. He is just saying that at some point they're going to have to stand up for themselves because it is a lot of football. Can players legally strike? Ross Meadows, head of employment at law firm Oury Clark: Striking is slightly more complex under UK employment law. Provided certain legal requirements are met, players could strike and can't legally be forced to play. Football clubs could, however, decide to not pay them during strike action or sue them for breach of contract - the latter being unlikely in practice. If the strike does not meet the legal requirements, players could be disciplined or even sacked. Realistically, this will not happen in practice. For example, I cannot imagine Manchester City sacking a player of Rodri's calibre and cost, which would allow a club like Real Madrid to potentially sign him up on a free transfer. It is more likely the clubs would back the players. What is in footballers' contracts? Ross Meadows, head of employment at law firm Oury Clark: Typically, the contracts will not have specific provisions allowing for strike action, withdrawing labour or refusing to play - and therefore it could be a breach of contract unless there is a legal justifiable reason. The contracts are likely to have clauses related to rest periods and recovery between matches. These are normally linked to Fifa and Uefa regulations. How would a strike actually work? Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Maheta Molango on BBC Radio 5 Live: We need to now define what this may look like. We want to give priority to our domestic competitions. This is the bread and butter of our players. The problem is more international competition, especially the national team competition, for example. Or this new format of Club World Cup, which is happening in the summer, so I don't think the focus is forcibly on domestic competitions. If the players feel that we need to take further action - then I think we will. BBC Sport chief football news reporter Simon Stone: Strike action has been threatened many times in the modern game but rarely has it actually happened - and nothing on the scale envisaged. The issue here is which games would be targeted - Premier League? EFL Cup? Champions League? And while Rodri - at the top of his profession - has a burnout issue; a player at a Premier League club that doesn't qualify for Europe and gets knocked out in the first available round of both domestic competitions only has a maximum 40 games to play. That disparity makes consensus among all players appear difficult to reach - and it is not entirely clear what the PFA's plan is, even if their legal action is successful.
