The Premier League will not move Chelsea’s opening game of the new season despite the Blues reaching the Club World Cup final.
Chelsea will face Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday August 17, just 34 days after they face Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final in New York on Sunday.
That short turnaround leaves Enzo Maresca with a big headache as Chelsea will have little time off before getting straight back into pre-season before the new season starts.
Players are supposed to have three weeks off as part of the contractual commitments and Chelsea face a difficult schedule.
Chelsea are thought to have asked the Premier League to push back their start to the new season, but that was ruled out before the tournament and that will not change.
The Premier League and other major European leagues are unhappy with the scheduling of the Club World Cup in an expanded FIFA calendar, and knew Manchester City of Chelsea reaching the final would create problems.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said in January: “If either Manchester City or Chelsea get to the final of that competition, the Premier League starts four weeks later, and all players are supposed to have three weeks off as part of the contractual commitment.
“So how does that work? With great difficulty I would say. We believe that if leagues and players’ unions were involved in the decision-making processes about how these competitions are put together, you’d have better outcomes. That’s what we’re calling for.”
Manchester City boss pep Guardiola said last month that the Club World Cup could be a “disaster” for their season.
City ended up going out on June 30 after losing to Al-Hilal so will get an extra two weeks on Chelsea.
