White shocked player welfare is not Uefa priority

Former Arsenal and Manchester City striker Ellen White said "it is shocking that player welfare is not Uefa's priority" after Women's Champions League scheduling led to Chelsea's Women's Super League match against Manchester United being postponed.

The match was called off with less than a week's notice because of a conflict with the Blues' European schedule.

Sonia Bompastor's side were scheduled to play United at Kingsmeadow at 12:30 BST on Sunday 6 October, before hosting Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge 48 hours later.

Before Friday's Champions League draw, the the Women's Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) - the new company which now runs the WSL - had requested that no English team be scheduled to play on 8 October, but were unsuccessful.

Uefa defended the scheduling and said its match calendar was made available to clubs more than one year ago and that fixture principles have been "clearly communicated".

"This is absolutely shocking from Uefa," White told BBC Radio 5 Live's Women's Football Weekly podcast.

"The group stage draw was only made on 27 September so I don't really understand how anybody would know the game they would be playing or when that game would have been.

"The forefront is player welfare and 48 hours is not long enough for a team to turn around playing on a Sunday to then have to play at an elite level in the Women's Champions League. It is shocking that player welfare is not Uefa's priority and they are not budging on it."

For the first time, there are three English clubs competing in the Women’s Champions League group stages, with Arsenal and Manchester City joining Chelsea.

Uefa regulations state clubs from the same national member associations cannot face each other in the group stage, while the two highest seeds must play on alternative evenings.

"It makes no sense to me why they couldn't budge," White added. "I know we have three English teams in the Champions League and they won't allow all three to play on the same night. It's just very confusing."

Arsenal and City's WSL fixtures are taking place as planned on Sunday, with them both in Champions League action on Wednesday.

Similar issues have been raised in the men's game, with players and coaches speaking out about fixture congestion.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri - who recently suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury - says players are close to going on strike in protest at an increase in games.

Arsenal's Jurrien Timber said this week that the current fixture schedule is "dangerous" and is a "big topic" in the dressing room.

"If you look at men’s football and Man City for example, they had 51 hours between playing Arsenal and then playing Watford in a cup game," White said.

"They put out two different teams essentially. We don't have those resources in women's football. This is the Women's Champions League and you have to be putting out your best team.

"You have smaller squads and it's a really tight turnaround and credit to them for saying this is not OK, we are not having this."