Any lawyers know of any language in player's and/or manager's contracts that might be of use to those who want to oppose this?
The PFA can file an injunction on behalf of the players, effectively pulling all players into a general strike. It will then make the rounds in litigation and will either be successful or not.
IF the players then still refuse to adhere to the guidelines of their professional contract, the clubs have several rights up to and including termination of contract and legal lawsuits for the players transfer value. First the club will start docking players wages, and ultimately cancel contracts if arbitration does not succeed.
This very rarely happens, so we have one case in particular in recent memory that is somewhat similar in Chelsea v Mutu from 2004, in which the players contract was terminated after Mutu tested positive for Cocaine. Chelsea sued for the transfer fee from Parma, and won. The appeal process is
still pending to this day.
The principle remains the same,
gross professional misconduct = breach of contract = liability. There is a lot of litigation that will take place between that and then, but that is the tl;dr version.
"Gross Misconduct" shall mean serious or persistent conduct behaviour activity or omission by the Player involving one or more of the following: (a) theft or fraud; (b) deliberate and serious damage to the Club's property; (c) use or possession of or trafficking in a Prohibited Substance; (d) incapacity through alcohol affecting the Player's performance as a player; (e) breach of or failure to comply with of any of the terms of this contract
The players contracts only stipulate that the players are mandated to "Engage in matches the club is engaged when directed by a club official". The contracts has no langauge that specifies WHAT contest.
So in short, the players can't do a lot by themselves if they refuse The club will likely tighten the screws if any dissenting opinion is voiced. The execs are very friendly until you start fecking around with them, then it's night night.
For anyone, myself included, that hope the players will speak up, they might not have a chance to, following the same ramificatoins, hereunder monetary punishment for doing so:
Part of a standard PL contract stipulates that a player
shall not: knowingly or recklessly do write or say anything or omit to do anything which is likely to bring the Club or the game of football into disrepute cause the Player or the Club to be in breach of the Rules or cause damage to the Club or its officers or employees or any match official. Whenever circumstances permit the Player shall give to the Club reasonable notice of his intention to make any contributions to the public media in order to allow representations to be made to him on behalf of the Club if it so desires;
I want every player of the club to speak up, but it may not be as simple as just speaking, as doing so can come with real punishment, yet great reward in the public eye.