September 23, (THEWILL) – The English Premier League has agreed to break during next season after the weekend of November 12 to accommodate the duration of the World Cup Qatar 2022. The league will therefore resume, at the conclusion of the global football showpiece, on Boxing Day, 2022.
The break will see that players have a week of preparations with their national teams before heading out to the first ever World Cup in the Middle East. For those who reach the December 18 final, there will be only eight days to recover in time for the league’s resumption.
The programme for the 2022/2023 EPL season was decided upon in discussions held at a scheduled meeting of executives of all 20 Premier League clubs in London on Wednesday. Extending for approximately four hours, attendees used the opportunity of the meeting to discuss a number of other issues.
Although not debated at the meeting, not all in attendance were comfortable with the idea of a winter World Cup. For instance, Christian Purslow, the Chief Executive of Aston Villa described the idea as “crazy” and expects this agreed mid-season hiatus to bite clubs and fans in England once it begins.
Purslow said: “Next season when we play in an equally crazy idea, which is a winter World Cup, we won’t see any Premier League football at the peak of our season between November and December, which is something that people are going to have to get used to.
“These are decisions that were taken a long time ago. They bite, quite soon. Next season we’ll all see that. I always have concerns about player welfare but I have more concerns for our fans missing Premier League football in the winter for five weeks, which is our great national tradition and our great national heritage.”
In more changes to the calendar for next season, the Premier League will start a week earlier. This is expected to be Saturday, August 6. The season will, all things being equal, finish later on in May than usual, with the FA Cup final to be shifted to June to accommodate these shifts.
The English Football League has proposed to also have the Championship pause concurrently with the Premier League after the weekend of November 12-13, but League One and League Two will not be disturbed and will continue throughout the tournament.
The EFL intends to have the Championship resume earlier than the Premier League, however. The resumption is set to take place at the end of the Group stage of the Qatar World Cup. But, because FIFA is yet to outline the exact tournament schedule, a date for the EFL resumption cannot be set presently.
The implication of the EFL planned schedule would mean that no extension will be required at the end of the EFL season and that the play-offs can remain in their traditional spots, with the finals staged on the bank holiday weekend at the end of May.
Another subject discussed at the meeting referred to COVID-19 protocols. This was in the wake of the government’s winter plan, which was outlined earlier this month, including “Plan B” which could involve the need for COVID passports for vaccinated fans.
From their discussions the conclusion was that clubs will continue to carry out their own policies in regards to spot checks on supporters at stadiums for vaccination status or negative lateral flow test results, and encouraging staff and players to be vaccinated.
One thorny subject that came up for discussion was the need for a Premier League “charter” to stop future plans for a breakaway European Super League. Although there is a nine-point plan to this effect, it is said to still be some way from being agreed. One of the plugs to prevent a repeat of the attempt will be the strength of public opinion against it.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
