Football had a plan. Qualification for the 2022 World Cup would wrap up by March of that year, with the draw a month later and the tournament itself kicking off on Nov. 21, 2022, in Qatar. Then came the global pandemic and, with it, the scrambling, adjusting and, above all, negotiating between the two souls of the sport: the club game and the international game.
The two sides are united against a common enemy, the coronavirus, but are also mindful of their own share of a global football pie that is smaller than it once was. And only two confederations (UEFA and Africa) have a chance at determining World Cup qualifiers by the originally planned date. The other four (CONCACAF in North America, CONMEBOL in South America, AFC in Asia and OFC in Oceania) have, to different degrees, already been derailed by COVID-19.
– 2022 World Cup: How qualifying works around the world
– UEFA Nations League 2020-21: What you need to know
FIFA president Gianni Infantino was optimistic last month, pointing out that the positive aspect of a winter World Cup is that football has a little more flexibility. It still means cramming World Cup qualifying, the Nations League, Euro 2020 (in 2021), the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, the Olympic football tournament and Copa America in the next 25 months within the delicate footballing compromise that is the FIFA International Match Calendar. All while we hope the pandemic doesn’t wreak more havoc on the world.
Last week, FIFA amended its rules regarding the release of players for international duty for the rest of 2020. Whereas teams were previously forced to release players during international breaks, it’s been made optional until the new year, provided there is a travel restriction with mandatory quarantine in either the club’s location or the national team’s destination and no “sporting exemption” is granted by national governments.
This isn’t a huge issue within Europe, since countries are generally quick to provide exemptions and travel is rarely more than a couple of hours. Yet it’s a much bigger issue in other parts of the world, such as in South America, Africa or Asia, where the bulk of a country’s national team is often based abroad.
There are two sides to this. One is player welfare, particularly with a hyper-congested match calendar. Clubs don’t enjoy releasing players at the best of times, let alone during a pandemic. Stuffing them onto planes to send them halfway around the world, where medical protocols may or may not be as stringently followed as they are back “home,” keeps them up at night. Throw in the fact that with ever-changing government guidelines around the world as infection rates rise and fall, there’s the risk of mandatory quarantine when they get home. That might be another two weeks of unavailability, plus training time lost, which in turn means they might not be match-fit and available again until early November — just in time to jet off for the next international break.
– Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
– Predict results in ESPN’s English Soccer Pick ‘Em!
The above is why representatives of Europe’s top leagues and clubs, as well as FIFPro, the players’ union, met with FIFA last month to hammer out a deal. Professionals from Asia, Africa and South America routinely face multiple intercontinental trips every fall: between international and Champions League travel, Lionel Messi (for example) is set to play games in Spain, Argentina, Bolivia (at altitude), Italy, Peru and Ukraine — all in the next six-and-a-half weeks.
The other aspect, while a…
Read More: Soccer’s road map to 2022 World Cup won’t be easy