PFA chief says players are being treated like machines

"The question is how many games can a human being play at the top level?"

The chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), Maheta Molango believes that players are being treated like machines when it comes to the number of fixtures they play. There has been plenty of debate around the number of games teams play throughout a season, with some clubs having three fixtures in the space of a week  - with cup and European commitments alongside their already-hectic league schedules. Last season's Premier League champions Manchester City played 61 games across all competitions alone last season, with several of their players making in excess of 50 appearances. And in an interview with the BBC's Football Focus, Molango feels that player welfare is not being considered with the congested fixture list. "This is not a shoe factory," he said. "You're talking about human beings and sometimes I get the feeling that we are moving in the direction that footballers are just machines and they are not." Molango, who was appointed as chief executive of the PFA in June believes that players should be restricted on the number of games they can play throughout the season. He said: "I find it astonishing that the players are always the last to find out, so we do a schedule and then we say to them go and play," he added.

"They are the ones who need to produce the best show so the question is how many games can a human being play at the top level?

"What's the maximum number of games? OK then, let's work backwards to build a schedule to ensure that the stars of the show can give the best versions on the pitch."

Several high-profile managers such as Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have previously called out the fixture schedule for how many games are played throughout the season.

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