Is the quick turnaround ahead of Qatar 2022 reckless?
By Oli Dickson Jefford
Usually at this time of year, clubs across the Premier League and the rest of Europe would be preparing for a solid few months of league action with a five-month break from international football.
Yet in a year’s time we will be just days away from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which looks set to be one of the most demanding and controversial tournaments in history.
The tournament begins on the 21 November and concludes just a week before Christmas on the 18 December, one of the shortest World Cup events since it switched to a 32-team format.
Due to the timing of the tournament, the Premier League season will run differently to usual.
Action begins earlier, on 6 August, with a halt in action from 14 November - just a week before the tournament begins.
And after the World Cup final, there will be a break of just eight days before Premier League action resumes for its traditional Boxing Day fixtures.
Is the turnaround time too short?
The decision to award Qatar the World Cup was never popular, partly because of fears of players playing in unbearable heat during the summer.
The only way to avoid that was to move the tournament to the winter but that, in itself, carries its own problem with scheduling.
Quite frankly, the decision to award Qatar the World Cup was stupid and reckless - and so is the schedule they have set up for it.
A week between meeting up with your international side and playing your first round match is nowhere near enough time to physically and mentally prepare for the challenges of the world’s biggest football tournament.
Club and international managers will rightly be concerned about how players fare physically and mentally, especially considering the volume of matches beforehand.
League matches will be compressed into a shorter space of time before and after the tournament, meaning there will be hardly any time for players to rest.
And that is coupled with the slightly shorter World Cup itself, with teams in the later groups likely to play every four days for a month if they progress to the final.
Ironically, all this comes at a time where there is a greater awareness of prioritising player’s physical and mental health .
Covid has added to these pressures in recent seasons, with a greater volume of matches compressed together and very little time to rest in between this summer’s Euros and the start of the current campaign.
Coupled with high-profile pre-season tours that will likely return next summer, players will barely get a chance to breathe in between matches and the ending of one tournament and the start of another.
It would unfortunately not be a surprise if several players are ruled out of the World Cup pre-tournament due to injury, while several may miss league matches afterwards because of injuries sustained during the tournament.
It would also be unsurprising if several players are far from their best as they struggle with the lack of rest and the mental demands unfairly being placed on them.
It is hard to tell just how the World Cup will run, in terms of which teams will do well and how high the standard of football is.
However, expectations are sadly low and it would be unsurprising if it proves to be a disappointing tournament due to the demands players are under.
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