Players' body rejects English season extension over welfare concerns

Premiership Rugby were invited to present their scheduling plans in more detail to the RPA Players' Board earlier this month. However, RPA rejected it in its current form, saying in a statement that a shortened, two-month off-season would be "seriously detrimental to player welfare".

(Reuters)

"The Premiership season is already longer than comparable contact sports, including Super League, NFL (National Football League) and AFL (Australian Football League)," it said.

"Extending an already arduous season from nine months to 10 has serious implications for players, given the potential increase to the game, training and psychological loads they face," the statement added.

"The physical and mental strain placed on participants of professional contact sport cannot be underestimated."

Earlier in March, Premiership Rugby confirmed the 2019-20 season would start in early September and finish at the end of June as a part of a reorganisation of the global calendar.

Premiership Rugby want to push the Aviva Premiership final back by four weeks from the end of May but the plan had not been signed off by the Rugby Football Union, the RPA or the Professional Game Board (PGB), who oversee the sport in England.

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; editing by Mark Heinrich)