Virus sends
international
calendar into
meltdown
One effect of the coronavirus crisis
has been to throw into stark relief
the scheduling crisis affecting football
at international and domestic level.
Swiss Football Association president
Dominique Blanc has warned, after a
ban on gatherings of more than 1,
people in the country, that medium-
sized and small FAs might soon be
seeking financial support from both
the world and European federations.
Meanwhile, ties in the east zone of
the AFC Champions League have been
postponed, as have regional qualifiers
in Asia for the 2022 World Cup. And
in Europe questions are being asked
about the prospects for this summer’s
Euro 2020.
Wholesale postponements in Italy,
along with and government isolation
orders, not only threw the concluding
months of Serie A into doubt but were
also poised to spread upwards andaffect the Champions League and
Europa League.
UEFA president Aleksander
Ceferin and general-secretary Theo
Theodorakis have talked of decisions
on a “case by case” basis, but they are
as much in the dark as anyone else in
not knowing whether the crisis will
ease or extend.
However, there is one factor on
which everyone gathered for a recent
UEFA Congress in Amsterdam is
agreed: the calendar is so tight that
there is no room for manoeuvre, with
no dates for wholesale postponements
and rearrangement – even if anyone
had a clue about when rearrangement
might even be a practical possibility.
Club managers and players’ unions
have railed for years at the damaging
overload on the health of both footballand footballers, but no decision-maker
has taken notice while the money
keeps rolling in from ratings-greedy
sponsors and television companies.
Prospects for worldwide agreement
on such an essential foundation of
the competitive game will be hard to
achieve when so many other issues
need to be worked out in the game’s
corridors of power.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino- who, presumably, was the target
of Ceferin’s exasperated “egos” jibe
to UEFA Congress – is still busy
chasing the funds needed to underpin
his pet project for an expanded Club
World Cup in China in the summer of
next year.
Not that Ceferin himself has it
easy, as he and his own “stakeholders”
still appear far away from agreement
on an expanded format for the
Champions League.
All of this apparently prompted
US promoters Relevent to posit a
Champions League-type summer
tournament across the globe in
summer 2021. Or was Relevent
merely trying to remain relevant – so
to speak – now that coronavirus has
undermined this year’s schedule?
The cumulative effect of the
coronavirus outbreak has been to
confront the game with its most urgent
challenge: a calendar in meltdown.Following racist abuse from fans of his
former club Vitoria Guimaraes, Porto
striker Moussa Marega walked off the
pitch in protest during a recent
Portuguese league game.
Yet, shamefully, match officials still
appear to be reluctant to open their
ears and act on the evidence during
games. Maybe referees have an
excuse, with their assistants’ advice
plugged into one ear. But fourth
officials have no such excuse. Nor,
in international competition, do
match delegates.
In the last three seasons UEFA has
imposed 73 partial stadium closures
and ordered 39 matches to be played
behind closed doors because of
incidents of discrimination.
Clearly the message is insufficient
and has gone unheeded.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin
told Congress in Amsterdam: “Many
of us have been sickened by what
we have witnessed in a number of
European stadiums this season.
“Diversity [in football] is greater than
in any other sport. We must begin by
applying the rules we already have.
That would be a good starting point.
That means applying the three-step
procedure. We must not be afraid to
do so. Everywhere. No exceptions.”
Merely sticking to the letter of the
law would be a start.Keir
RADNEDGE
THE INSIDERRacist abuse
still continues
THE WORLD THIS MONTH
Precaution...fans
wear masks at a
game in JapanQuestions are being asked about the prospects
for this summer’s Euro 2020
Abused...Porto’s
Moussa Marega