Business of Sport Ep.11: Maheta Molango, CEO @ PFA, 'Why fixture congestion is the biggest issue in football'

Business of Sport

Today, we are delighted to welcome Maheta Molango to the show. As Chief Executive of the PFA, Maheta has one of the biggest jobs in football, leading the union that represents 55,000 current and former professional players in the UK.

A former professional footballer for the likes of Atletico Madrid and Brighton, Maheta has been involved in all aspects of the game. Before taking up his current role, Maheta trained as a lawyer while finishing his professional career, working both in and out of the industry while also spending a number of years as CEO of the Spanish club Real Mallorca.

Taking us through one of the most unique and impressive professional journeys in the sport, this is an incredibly open and honest conversation with one of the most influential people in football.

In today’s show, we discuss:

From player to executive:

• A self-professed journeyman on the pitch, how did the experience set Maheta up for a career after football?
• How the opportunities for education for players are now more available, but the time to do studies away from sport has become harder to find.
• The importance of setting yourself up for life after football and grounding your future opportunities in proper education. How do footballers currently do this?
• The challenge of moving into an industry away from sport and building a network for legal firm Baker Mckenzie in the industry when there was no existing traction.
• Appreciating the transition is not always smooth and you have to strike while the iron is hot. You are in the public eye when playing, but when retired you become another ex-professional alongside many others.

The role of the PFA:

• What does the organisation do? Who does it support? How do they look to help players and their families?
• The challenge of having a huge number of people to support with a limited pool of resources. What can be done and needs to be done to improve this and therefore improve the support network for players?
• How is the organisation funded, and what control does it have in the wider footballing ecosystem to influence policy, strategy, and decision-making?
• The PFA Business School - how the organisation set up a number of opportunities for members to attain an education and apply that to their life beyond football.

Football’s biggest challenges:

• What are the things that concern Maheta the most in football today, and what vulnerabilities do the PFA have to provide support for?
• Overcoming the huge challenge of fixture congestion and the impact that has on players' health and wellness.
• Maheta’s belief that the overcrowding of the football calendar risks reducing the quality of the product and damaging the reputation of some of the biggest competitions.
• Trying to disband the often unfair belief that footballers are not smart enough or aware of their role in society. Today’s players are highly in tune with their surroundings and often do a huge amount of work away from the pitch that goes unrecognised.
• What is Maheta most proud of when looking at the developments made within the community under his tenure so far?