Temperatures has nothing to do with my post. Call me crazy but the majority of fans, players, coaching staff, media remembers, dignitaries etc will not want to risk themselves flying to a country like Qatar during a resurgence of a virus contagion that we may or may not have complete control over. IT is Winter time in most of those cases which is cold and flu season.
True, although having the WC late in 2022 only gives them one extra FIFA window. And it doesn't really help at all with AFC and CONMEBOL qualifying. If the WC was scheduled for the summer of 2022, CONMEBOL qualifying probably would've started in Oct 2019. So each team would've already had 4 matches played. Now we're still stuck on zero. But of course none of this threatens the Qatar WC. They will just (probably) have to change the CONMEBOL qualifying format (two groups of 5?).
IF we resume for the August / September window AFC is one window short using the current calendar. We need 10 x 2 match windows and there are only 9 available. There are 3 easy ways to address this if the calendar doesn't change. 1. Eliminate the internal playoff and just have the best 3rd placed team go to the inter continental playoff 2. Have the June 2020 window increased from 2 games in early June to 4 games. 3. Play 3 groups of 4 with the best runner up qualifying and the other two playing off for a spot in the inter continental playoff. Option 1 takes a chance away from someone and could be open to some dodgy results in the last round. Option 2 means my country will have to withdraw from the Copa America where we are an invited team (Qatar should still be OK) Conmebol may change what they do and be forced to withdraw the invitations if the delays are too long. Option 3 requires only 8 match windows and if we can't restart in August we may have to go this route.
Option 2 sounds the best to me. There is a Copa America every two years, so skipping this one is no biggie. But each of the 3 options you list sound okay. I guess maybe only CONMEBOL will see a drastic change to their qualifying format.
I also think option 2 is the best. If we don't restart internationals in September then option 3 works for a November restart.
I mean apparently from what I have read online that FIFA World Cup qualifying for everyone almost each confederation is supposed to start in September/October but that is only if the whole COVID-19 debacle ends by then.
Options 3 seems the best idea in case if COVID crisis prolongates. But I dislike idea about best runner up. Let them all runners up playing playoff. Two of them will play head to head, while remaining one will play intercontinental playoff. Such time will be decided by open draw. Similar case was with UEFA for World Cup 2002. There were 9 runners up. 8 teams have been paired to 4 ties, while remaining one played against Asian team. The draw was held in advance before group phase was finished. Drawn team for intercontinental playoff was Ireland and played against Iran.
ESPN/Tim Vickery wrote this about CONMEBOL a couple weeks ago: https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-wo...ave-the-2022-world-cup-qualifiers-in-conmebol He came to this conclusion: "It would seem that the continent has two ways out. One is to revert to the previous format of separate groups, with the financial and technical losses this would entail. The other would be to scrap the controversial extra Copa America, originally scheduled for the middle of this year but put back 12 months. It is an unloved and unlovely extra version of the Copa, an unwieldy co-host between Argentina and Colombia -- two countries at opposite ends of the continent. The Copa is a money spinner for CONMEBOL and they would be reluctant to lose it, but in a universe of bad options, giving up the 2021 Copa might be the least harmful."
“universe of bad options” is a tad dramatic. This Copa was just a last-minute inclusion into the calendar anyway. Already had one just last summer. Its like saying But yeah, since we’re probably looking at matches behind closed doors, makes more sense to try to keep the traditional WC qualifying format. Assuming that’s what this is about (the quote above doesn’t explicitly reference WC qualifying)
It is about World Cup Qualifying. And yes we are probably talking about closed doors matches obviously which will suck in some obvious ways but be very interesting in other ways. One of the great things about South American Qualifying is that the stadiums are intimidating with screaming fans. Now it will be a lot less intimidating so we may see some more upsets or unexpected draws for points. Teams that still have the altitude and heat advantages though will still have those things to bank on I suppose. That along with the cold advantages of the Southern Hemisphere. But there is nothing like the energy that comes from a rowdy South American Crowd.
Yes. Especially if they start up in the Fall as currently scheduled. It will just suck in so many ways. And if you go behind closed doors you have to do it for all of the qualifying tournament. Unless maybe they can divide it up equally and do behind closed doors for the first 9 games and then reevaluate for the next 9 games if things get better (God willing). But even then it wold be too controversial.
Exactly if you play behind closed doors you have to do it throughout the whole entire qualifying phase
Here is a wacky idea: Play the first 9 games behind closed doors in the South American cities with the least amount of Corona infections. Then Play the next 9 matches in Miami, Florida in front of fans and charge high prices to make some of the money back you lost. (Assuming fans will be allowed to congregate in USA Stadiums by 2021.)
Didn't think there was ever a lack of surprises in CONMEBOL WC qualifying anyway. The 2018 qualifiers were insane! Peru ahead of Argentina entering the last matchday, for instance. Not sure about "very interesting". Catch a Bundesliga match lately? Definitely something missing. But hopefully they won't have to be behind closed doors for the full qualifying campaign.
IT would make it even more surprising without fans in my opinion. Just have to wait and see how it plays out. I think it is all or nothing when it comes to fans in the stands. Teams and Federations and Media and fans will see it being extremely unfair if some games have fans and other games do not. If there are fans allowed it may have to play out like my previous post alluded to. A Neutral site that will allow fans to gather.
As for "interesting", yes it would be more "interesting" in my eyes to see how teams play without intimidating fans for an advantage. You know some teams poop in their pants in Argentina , Brasil, Uruguay once there is a momentum swing and the energy from the loud supporters magnifies those moments. It will be interesting to see how teams adjust to minimal noise and atmosphere.
I meant that, for e.g., maybe the first 8 matchdays of qualifying would be behind closed doors, and then things will have changed making it safe to open stadia (vaccine or treatment discovered) Not saying that some stadiums are closed and some are open on the same matchday.
Well not necessarily especially if you are playing qualifiers behind closed doors I mean you have to especially with this pandemic
I don't see any sense playing home-away matches in closed doors stadiums in South America, except for the climatic advantage. Much loss of money. for that, it is better to choose a neutral venue, empty stadium and fixed matter.
You can do it behind closed doors not just in South America but also in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, etc I mean what other alternatives are there at this point