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Guardiola Says Players Have the Power after Talk of Strike Action over Congested Schedule

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (C) reaches out to shake hands with Inter player Hakan Calhanoglu (R) after the UEFA Champions League match between Manchester City and Inter in Manchester, Britain, 18 September 2024. (EPA)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (C) reaches out to shake hands with Inter player Hakan Calhanoglu (R) after the UEFA Champions League match between Manchester City and Inter in Manchester, Britain, 18 September 2024. (EPA)
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Guardiola Says Players Have the Power after Talk of Strike Action over Congested Schedule

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (C) reaches out to shake hands with Inter player Hakan Calhanoglu (R) after the UEFA Champions League match between Manchester City and Inter in Manchester, Britain, 18 September 2024. (EPA)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (C) reaches out to shake hands with Inter player Hakan Calhanoglu (R) after the UEFA Champions League match between Manchester City and Inter in Manchester, Britain, 18 September 2024. (EPA)

Pep Guardiola has told elite soccer players they are the only ones who can force change in a growing dispute over the number of games they are being asked to play.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri says players are close to going on strike because of an increasingly congested schedule that will be added to next year by an expanded Club World Cup in the United States.

City manager Guardiola said on Friday the game's stars might have to "take a voice and do something" if they want to make a stand.

"If something is going to change, always (it) must come from the players," Guardiola said. "That business (soccer) can be without managers, can be without sporting directors, can be without media, can be without owners, but without the players (it) cannot be played.

"So, the only (ones) that have the power to do it is them."

Players’ unions have legally challenged FIFA over the expansion of the Club World Cup, which will be a 32-team event for the first time next year, up from seven. It is slated for the offseason for many major leagues in June-July.

World players union FIFPRO has raised concerns about the increasing physical and mental demands on players, but the competition has been welcomed by the European Club Association, which represents the continent's top clubs, including City.

Unions in England and France filed a claim against FIFA at the Brussels Court of Commerce in June and challenged FIFA’s "decisions to unilaterally set the international match calendar."

The Champions League has also been expanded this season with two more games in the new-look group stage.

Spain international Rodri played in 10 different competitions in 2022-23 when the campaign was further congested by a midseason World Cup. He followed that last season by playing 64 times for club and country, including a run to the final of the European Championship, which Spain won.

This season will end with the Club World Cup, which could include seven more games if City reaches the final.

Rodri, who has been nominated for the Ballon d'Or, said strike action may have to happen.

"If it keeps this way, it will be a moment when we have no other option, I really think," he said. "It’s something that worries us because we are the guys who suffer."

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany believes a cap should be placed on the number of appearances a player can make in a season, putting an onus on coaches to limit the demands on their top stars.

"It’s not just the load for the players but the travels. Some of these guys, they go from playing in the Champions League to playing a national team game in Korea or something and then back," Kompany said. "If you do that for 70, 75, 80 games, there’s a point where it’s not realistic anymore, so to this point I can only support the feeling of the players."

Staging the Club World Cup in 2025 means top players face three straight years of major competitions during the usual offseason, given the Euros and Copa America were held this year and the next World Cup is in 2026.

Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso said players need to be consulted about the demands being made of them.

"The calendar is very intense," Alonso said. "They need to be heard, they need to participate in these decisions because we want good football. ... Rodri, he is totally right to have this opinion."

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Mensik Prevents Djokovic from his 100th Title

Jakub Mensik (R) of Czechia holds the champions trophy, while standing next to Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia, after Mensik won the Men’s Singles Final at the 2025 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 30 March 2025. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
Jakub Mensik (R) of Czechia holds the champions trophy, while standing next to Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia, after Mensik won the Men’s Singles Final at the 2025 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 30 March 2025. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
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Mensik Prevents Djokovic from his 100th Title

Jakub Mensik (R) of Czechia holds the champions trophy, while standing next to Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia, after Mensik won the Men’s Singles Final at the 2025 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 30 March 2025. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
Jakub Mensik (R) of Czechia holds the champions trophy, while standing next to Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia, after Mensik won the Men’s Singles Final at the 2025 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, USA, 30 March 2025. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH

Novak Djokovic faced a series of obstacles Sunday in the Miami Open final: a delay of more than 5 1/2 hours before the match, an eye infection and a slippery court due to high levels of humidity following the rain.
But the largest roadblock was the youth and power of 6-foot-4, 19-year-old phenom Jakub Mensik, who outdueled the 37-year-old Serbian 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) to win his first ATP title, The Associated Press reported.
Ranked 54th entering the tournament, the Czech Republic teenager plowed through Djokovic with poise and a stellar 130 mph serve. He collected 14 aces and got broken only once. Mensik bashed a service winner on match point and fell on his back.
"You’re the one I idolized when I was young," Mensik said to Djokovic during the ceremony after the match that lasted 2 hours, 3 minutes. “I started playing tennis because of you."
Mensik’s victory spoiled the party for Djokovic, who was seeking his 100th career title and a record seventh in the Miami Open. Djokovic will have to wait, while the teenager looks ready to join the elite.
“This is a joyous moment for him and his family — an unbelievable tournament, first of many," Djokovic said. “It hurts me to admit it, you were better. In the clutch moments you delivered the goods. For a young player like yourself, this is a great feature."
The crowd pulled hard for Djokovic, who hadn’t played here since 2019. More than three-quarters of the fans stuck around despite the massive delay, chanting “No-vak!" and singing his name across critical parts of the match.
Djokovic, far from a fan favorite here earlier in his career, saluted the fans, saying it was one of the warmest crowds he’s had ever.
But the men’s leader with 24 Grand Slam titles seemed compromised by his eye issue, with redness seen under the eyelid. Djokovic applied eyedrops during two changeovers in the first set. It was unclear if it affected his vision.
Afterward, Djokovic said he “really prefers not to talk about" his eye, but said “I didn’t feel my greatest on the court."
Djokovic called it “a weird day."
“It’s the same for both players," he added. “You have to accept the circumstances. I tried to make the most out of what I had or was facing but, yeah, it was quite different from any other day of the tournament for me."
During the set, he also slipped twice on the court. The humidity reached 90% after hours of rain disrupted the card. Sweating profusely, Djokovic asked the umpire for a bucket of sawdust to sprinkle on his wet grip.
Mensik had lost to Djokovic in a three-setter last October at the Shanghai Masters but the youngster said before the match he had played too nervously.
Mensik was playing his first ATP 1000 final. He was not quite 2 years old when Djokovic won his first Miami Open title in 2007.
Djokovic knew Mensik’s potential after inviting him to his camp in Belgrade to train when the prodigy was 16.
“He has the complete game. His serve is incredible, powerful, precise,” Djokovic said.
There was more fearlessness this time than in Shanghai. Mensik got up 3-0 with an early break but Djokovic broke back at 4-3, then held for 4-4 after fans chanted his name.
Mensik held for a 6-5 lead in a game that saw Djokovic take a tumble in the doubles alley chasing a drop shot. Mensik served it out with his seventh ace.
In the first-set tiebreak, Mensik charged ahead 5-0. Mensik executed a leaping backhand volley winner and Djokovic muffed a routine forehand drop shot into the net to fall behind 5-0. On set point, Mensik slugged an overhead smash for a winner.
The match was scheduled for 3 p.m. but the players didn’t take the court until 8:37 p.m. due to rain and organizers deciding on completing the women’s doubles final.
The South Florida rain began at 12:50 p.m. during the women’s doubles final pitting Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider against Cristina Bucsa and Miyu Kato, with Andreeva and Shnaider leading 3-0 in the first set.
The women’s players returned to the court at 5:30 p.m. after the rain stopped and the courts were readied by court-drying machinery. But rain began minutes later before warmups and the umbrella-toting players left the court again.
The women returned to the court an hour later and resumed play at 6:50 p.m. Andreeva and Schnaider went the distance, prevailing in a third-set match tiebreaker 6-3, 6-7 (5), 10-2.