For Maheta Malongo, the message could not be clearer: soccer is dying, and the organizations in charge in the game are culpable in leading it to its death.

The chairman of the English Professional Footballers' Association believes that there is a serious threat to the beautiful game, with new competitions saturating the calendar and adding more physical stress to players who already play so many games each year.

Molango, who has been PFA chairman since 2021, has experience of other soccer cultures too after presiding over Real Mallorca as their CEO from 2016 to 2020.

Two weeks ago, he participated in an interesting presentation at the Global Soccer Forum awards together with Ferrán Soriano (Manchester City), Karl Heinz Rummenigge, Mikel Arteta and Cesc Fábregas about the future of football.

There, Molango issued a stern warning to soccer chiefs to protect players better or risk watching the multi-billion product become less entertaining for viewers.

"We are close to a point of no return. For the first time, we are realizing that it is not just a problem of a few privileged players who earn well and play a lot," Molango said.

"We have reached a point where people realize that this is starting to affect the quality of what we see on the field. Even the most skeptical fans realize that they want to see their best players and many can't give what you want.

"There is the example of Pedri in Spain. When you reach a certain level, with so much pressure of games in a row, there is a moment when your body doesn't give it, and no matter how much money they earn, that doesn't make it easier."

Where England is going wrong

The PFA chief also pointed to the NFL model, where teams play fewer games but still bring in more revenue than English clubs: "We usually look at other models when we are interested. The American model is different, you don't have to compare things that are not completely comparable, but you realize that in the United States in the NFL the teams play 17 games throughout the season and make 10 billion in revenue.

"In the Premier League, which I think we all agree that, with the permission of La Liga, is the most important league in the world, football makes 4.2 billion in 38 games. So we are doing something wrong."