We have GOT to get this sorted out. It really dawned on me when a report I read said we were the ONLY country to keep playing domestically on FIFA dates( which I doubt is true). Is this not bizarre: we play on FIFA dates against the likes of France and Germany and we have the usual scenario with the player saying something like "Well, if it was left to me I would play for both club and country but I can't be in 2 places at once" (what he really wants to say is "Club or country? no choice - country!"). So we play at Fulham. Half the squad arrive a day or two before the Brazil-based players. Not the best thing for Mano - even though we had more training sessions for this game then any other in recent memory (excluding Copas America and World Cups). I can't imagine Germany or even England having this unsatisfactory set up. To cap it all.we are playing with home based players against Argentina and EVERYONE is available from the clubs - no fixture clashes. I remember CA Parreira saying in 1983 (yes 1983) that he did not have much time with the players. Surely the BRAINS in Brazil (if there are any in the heads of football administrators) can resolve this.
In my assessment, some of the people in Brazil who run soccer (not just CBF) are very old-fashioned... they are stuck in a 1960s mentality and they haven't really "globalized." And in my view, there’s also a Brazilian patriotism involved, in doing things the “Brazilian way.” If you look at other Latin American countries, there are many who follow the European system; some have a single-tournament like England or Germany, and some have two tournaments in one year (Apertura and Clausura system); Argentina is an example of a country who follows this framework. Other countries which follow the European system are Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Apparently the justification was that the European summer coincides with South America’s winter, so it would not make sense for players to take a “winter break” and to play during much of the lengthy Brazilian summer at the end of the year/early in the following year. However, it’s quite hot in Central America as well, and yet these countries follow the European model. Until CBF makes the leap into the European model, which I think it should’ve done way back, we’ll struggle with these date conflicts.
The timing of the Brasileirao is the biggrest issue. I don't think it creates huge problems if the start/end date doesn't coincide with Europe. The problem is the State championships which unnecessarily crowds the calendar. The European leagues run for around 9 months (August-May) while the Brasileirao runs for less than 7 months (May-December). Given that the competition formats are the same (20 teams, home/away), something has to give.
