World Cup in December? Are they joking?

Editorial
Qatar World Cup 2022 to run during November and December

So we've heard some of the arguments for the Winter World Cup in 2022; the players will be fresher so may play better; it's bringing the WC to the world (but then TV does that much better I think!); it's too hot and so dangerous to hold it during the Qatari Summer....blah de blah, blah.....but where are the arguments against?

I've got a few....I can tell thee!

Let's face it, we all know exactly why the WC is going to Qatar, no matter what they say, and for me their arguments FOR the Qatar WC are puerile attempts at papering over the real reasons it's going there.  just tell the truth...."the WC is going to Qatar because FIFA is going to make a shitload of cash (that's if it hasn't already....if you know what I mean....) and doesn't give a flying fart for the disruption it's going to cause to European leagues."

There you see....it doesn't sound quite so horrific now you say it out loud Mr Blatter.

Erm.....that's not quite true.....I said out loud and it sounds pretty damn awful......but shhhhh!  Just don't tell Blatter or that perennial Premier League hater Platini (who I've got a few platitudes for...I can tell thee that as well!)

Now just think about that disruption for a minute.....I just don't see how it can be limited to a single season for a start.  If they overrun the season by 2 months then the 2022/23 season will spill over into the the following year with barely a discernible gap between the two.  So what do they do?  Start the 2022/23 season early, or the 23/24 season late?  I don't know.....

Another option; play the season as normal but teams that lose players to the WC will just have to field lesser sides.  That might work....or would it?  I'm not sure how how many players exactly each team is allowed to register with the PL before the start of the season, but MU this year I believe have a 28 man squad and by my count could expect to lose about 17 or 18 for example (if it were being held eminently, for the sake of argument) for the WC leaving them barely able to field a side.  So does the PL then say that with the commencement of the WC they can temporarily bring in another side?  But from where?  The obvious answer is the academy.  OK, again that might work, but in reality their crowds and hence, their revenue, may be halved or even worse.  Who wants to pay PL season ticket prices to see 16 year olds kicking the ball for half the season?  Not me!  As good as they might be.  But again, just suppose the crowds don't drop, but in the absence of the big players the team starts to play badly.  They go from top say (it is MU after all...and I can only hope) to 9th or 10th place.  Quite possible in 2 months if they lost every game.   And then afterwards the big players are too knackered to turn it around and they miss out on Europe as a result.  Now we're talking oodles of lost revenue with FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valckle confirming compensation will NOT be forthcoming for European clubs after all.  And this could happen all over Europe, though the disruption to the English PL will be greatest due to the fact there is no scheduled Winter break as a matter of course.  Imagine...the following year we could have a Champions League featuring ...I don't know....Swansea, WBA, Elche, Mainz and Freiberg.  As lovely as that might be for them, for the rest of us we miss out on seeing the best players in Europe in the best competition just because a few FIFA delegates couldn't keep their sticky fingers out of the money pot.

Ok, I know I'm being a bit alarmist...but bloody hell, someone has to be!

I'm going to be really interested to see how the PL and the rest of Europe are going to deal with this problem once these dates are confirmed, and they surely will be.  Seven years to sort it out might just do it.....we'll know soon enough.

And a Happy Christmas to you too Mr Blatter!




Tweet to @nn11pwb