Premier League clubs to oppose resumption of international football in September

Clubs in the English Premier League have come together with Europe's elite clubs to oppose UEFA's attempts to re-introduce international football in September.

Beginning Wednesday, the UEFA executive committee will hold a two-day meeting. The European football governing body's agenda is to schedule the possible dates for UEFA Nations League fixtures.

The group stage for the tournament is originally scheduled to start on September 3, with England starting their campaign against Iceland two days later. Following that game, they will take on Denmark.

In an interview last week, England manager Gareth Southgate said that the September fixtures will still go ahead, although the football calendar has been disrupted because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Reportedly, during Wednesday's meeting, Premier League's top clubs are planning to lobby against the September international window. This is mainly because if the international calendar resumes in September, there would be a major disruption in the European clubs' domestic season.

The 2020-21 domestic season is due to start on August 8, which will most certainly be further delayed. As of now, it has been decided that the second week of September could be a potential kick-off date.

In such a scenario, if the September international fixtures are continued, it would mean that the teams in the Premier League would be required to release their players for these fixtures two weeks ahead of the season's start.

The prospect of injuries is also a huge concern right now because of a congested season. The clubs would prefer the international fixtures to return in either October or November, although that would lead to a headache for UEFA.

Daily Mail revealed that FIFA is proposing to initiate a long international break, in which national teams would play as many as eight matches in November and December. Such a move has been designed to restart the international season while also giving enough space for club football to resume next year.

UEFA's meeting on Wednesday will also discuss the schedule for this year's Champions League and Europa League. It is expected that next year's European club tournaments' schedule would also be discussed.

To conclude this year's Champions League, UEFA is planning to hold a mini-tournament in August in Lisbon, with the final being scheduled for August 23.