Coronavirus, Euro ‘20 And World Cup ‘22 Combine To Create Unprecedented Scheduling Problems

Uefa will meet on Tuesday to decide the fate of the 2020 European Championships. Although Uefa’s public stance has been that the Pan-European competition will go ahead as planned (June 12 to July 12), the pressure to move the tournament to 2021 has been mounting.

It now seems inconceivable that Uefa would try to host the tournament this summer as Europe confronts its biggest medical crisis in more than a century.

Domestically, soccer authorities across Europe have bought time with many opting to postpone games until the beginning of April.

But, “peak-virus” in some countries is not expected until May/June and it is not unreasonable to think that precautions taken to control the spread of the novel coronavirus will remain in place for a sometime after.

It is likely that the next key decision facing European leagues is whether to void the 2019/20 season and reconvene to start the 2020/21 season in August/September, or continue to postpone games and restart the 2019/20 season when the crisis is deemed over.

(With players and support staff falling ill, playing games behind closed doors no longer looks to be a viable solution.)

Voiding the 2019/20 is the easy fix but it is one that will stoke justifiable grievances for years to come. (Liverpool, we know you only need 6 points from 9 games to win the Premier League, but them’s the breaks!)

There would remain issue of awarding places in the next Champions and Europa Leagues, as well as the prize money to be shared and relegation/promotion to be decided.

There again, calling the final league table “as is” is as inequitable as voiding the season.

Another possibility it to postpone games and to then try and jam three months of the old season into what will already be a congested 2020/21.

Even if soccer returned in time to fill the slot that Euro 2020 looks like vacating, the authorities might still not be ready to give the green light.

There is another option of turning 2020/21 into a half season played after the completion of 2019/20. However, if we look to the horizon there is another scheduling problem – the 2022 World Cup.

The 2022 edition will be played in November and December in Qatar in order to mitigate the scorching summer heat. We already know that the change to a winter tournament for northern hemisphere countries is going to have a multi-season impact on their league schedules.

Perhaps rather than rejigging the schedule twice, soccer authorities, as devolved as they are, could work together. Essentially, tackle all the scheduling issues including the World Cup 2022 elephant in the room.

So here’s an idea. There are lots of holes to be picked, but remember, there is no ideal solution. One way or another, something has to give.

Let’s start with some basic assumptions:

• By August 2020 things will have returned to normal.
• The men’s 2020 European Championships will be moved to 2021.
• The 2021 FIFA Club World Cup involving 24 teams in China between June 17, and July 4 will be scrubbed.
• The 2020/21 UEFA Nations Cup will be abbreviated to any degree necessary.
• World Cup qualifiers for 2022 may need to be extended beyond the March 2022 end date.

And so here is a possible solution and timeline:

• August 2020, teams start pre-season preparation.
• Suspended 2019/20 league seasons and domestic cup competitions restart mid-September and finish no later than mid-December.
• Summer leagues to play abbreviated schedule in 2020 if required. This would apply to MLS.
• Champions League and Europa Leagues restart mid-October 2020 with finals in early December. Istanbul is due to host the Champions League Final and climate will not be an issue; the Europa League Final in Gdańsk might have to be moved as it is normally a tad chilly at that time of year.
• Starting 2021 all leagues move temporarily to a calendar season for two years – 2021 and 2022.
• Champions League and Europa Leagues to also follow a calendar year schedule. The new UEFA competition – Europa Conference League – to be delayed until 2022 rather than the currently scheduled start date of mid-2021.
• Appropriate break for European Championship 2021.
• 2022 season follows similar pattern to 2021 except teams play through the summer and finish no later than the second last week in October. Same applies to the three Uefa club competitions – Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League.
• World Cup 2022 to start in November and finish in December.
• A short break and domestic competitions return but playing a half-season finishing in June 2023. This leaves the possibility of an end of season playoff tournament.
• All three European competitions play a straight knock out format with 64 teams starting in each competition. With one game per round teams would face a maximum of 6 games – one less than the present knock out stage of the Champions League.
• 2023/24 season everything returns to as you were.

Would it work or do you have a better idea? Let me know your thoughts at @BobbySoccerRep