Not with FIFA mandatory leaves. NHL/Olympics is different as they aren't under the same governing body. FIFA is over ALL of the leagues. They have a requirement that, during their windows, clubs HAVE to release players.
This is a true statement, but if enough of the confederations (or at least UEFA) push back on that, FIFA will back down. Already, they are talking about suspending the domestics leagues for at least a month which means either starting the domestics leagues earlier in July or cramming more mid-week games in the schedule. Either way, there will be massive amounts of bitchin' for a World Cup that was awarded because of bribery, not to mention the whole alcohol/slave labor/women oppression issue. FIFA isn't talking about the next World Cup because it want's to focus on the current World Cup. After the 15th of July, all this will start bubbling to the top again.
I fully expect it to be a shit show, but if Russia happened then I don't see how Qatar doesn't. I figure they'll do a "apertura" and "clasura" like they do in Mexico for the leagues. I mean, they already take breaks in some of the European countries so it won't be something completely new to the region. What will be interesting to see is how close the leagues will play up to the window they've setup for the tournament (November 21 - December 18, according to Wiki). Boxing day and Christmas time are massive in the English league, losing those dates would be devastating to their revenues, I think. However, asking players to come back from international play that quickly could be a disaster, too.
And article on how the 2022 World Cup will affect the Premier and Champions Leagues. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/winter...remier-league-champions-league-162801183.html And guess what? They are actively thinking about having 48 teams. Queue the train wreck. Here's something about the 2022 World Cup that I haven';t heard people talking about. Since I've been to Qatar, I know just how small the country is. I don't know how many fans from other countries traveled to Russia for the World Cup, but I would guess maybe a million? According to Wikipedia, there are about 2.5 million inhabitants in the country. Add another million soccer fans and immediately, the question pops up, where are they going to house all these people? How are they going to feed all these people? How are they going to move all these people around to the different venues? When I was there about 10 years ago, they only had buses for public transportation. Here's what I can see happening. Due to the World Cup, rents will go thru the roof. This was the case during the Asia Games because landlords wanted to rent their apartments/houses for as much money as they could get which will displace the workers in the country. There will be a shortage of hotel rooms, so to accommodate all the soccer fans, they will put tents up in the desert. There will also be a shortage of rent cars, so to get to and from the venues, they will use the same beat-up school buses that they use to ferry TCN (third country nationals, the workers who build everything) to and from the venues. As for food, there will be a shortages of everything and people will be forced to eat rice and beans in cafeterias. Did I mention that you can only buy alcohol in government run stores and only if you have a government license and to get that, you have to be a resident? So, you will have a million soccer fans, staying in tents on cots, eating rice and beans, being bused to the games and not being able to drink alcohol. Sounds like a train wreck to me. Add to this the possibility of 48 teams and this will be the biggest cluster******** in the history of the World Cup.
I don't think the alcohol will be an issue. We saw what FIFA was able to force the Brazilian government to do regarding alcohol in stadiums during WC 2014. FIFA will force the matter so their sponsors, Budweiser, can have their product sold during games. Outside the stadium is another matter altogether, and you're probably right there. But fans will be able to get their drinks at the stadium.
I beg to differ. Qatar has blown smoke up FIFA's ass so long (air conditioned stadiums, etc.), that they probably will do the same with alcohol. Given the way that Qatar got the World Cup and all the abuses of workers building the stadiums and other controversies, FIFA won't pull the World Cup from Qatar just for the alcohol issue. In the end, FIFA wil roll over, say something vague about respecting a country's culture and Budweiser will be banished to the next World Cup.
I think this leverage will be huge for FIFA, too. With the 2026 World Cup being in North America you're going to get sponsors that will be much more open to a "deal with this world cup if it means I'm guaranteed a spot at the next one" mentality.
If a host wants to get in the way of FIFA and the sponsors, I will bet on the sponsors getting what they want every time.