When FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a lot of people questioned the decision. Then they scheduled it for November and December, making the decision look even more questionable. But now FIFA should be thanking its lucky stars that the next World Cup will have a late start. Because otherwise they wouldn't have the scheduling flexibility over the next two years that they now suddenly need.
The World Cup draw is typically held in December prior to the tournament in June/July of the following year. That means qualifying has to be done by November, and that's usually just the intercontinental playoffs for the final few spots. They haven't announced an official date for the 2022 World Cup draw. All the FIFA calendar says is "April 2021." Which means they still have the March 2022 window for qualifying. But don't be surprised to see the draw delayed if they end up needing to use the May/June 2022 window. Which they might.
Euro 2020 had to become Euro 2021. UEFA didn't have a choice. But the delay means that European World Cup qualifying will actually start before the Euro is even played, which usually isn't the case. They've also had to reschedule two of the UEFA World Cup qualifying dates because the Euro was rescheduled for the same dates. Fortunately, they can use the international match windows in early 2022 to make them up. If the World Cup was at the same time as usual, they wouldn't. They would have a problem, though.
Not to mention that because of the stupid Nations League, Euro qualifying isn't done yet, either. They lost the March international window when those playoffs were supposed to be played. Who knows when they're actually going to take place, but it obviously has to be before the Euro proper. Even if those qualifiers end up getting pushed into the March 2021 window, they still have some flexibility for the World Cup qualifiers.
Of course, the same delay that applies to the Euro also applies to Copa America, which was also pushed back a year. South American World Cup qualifying is a grueling 18-game double round-robin that takes two full years (with a break for them to all play each other in Copa America). They were supposed to start in March. That obviously didn't happen. They were also supposed to play two games next June, which is now when Copa America will take place. So they've gotta make up four games somewhere.
South American qualifying is supposed to resume in September, but who knows if that's even going to be possible at this point? And they've got the two matchdays in every FIFA international window accounted for, so it's tough to imagine how they'll figure out where to squeeze in those four games (potentially more). The March 2022 window is reserved for intercontinental qualifiers, but they could easily use those and push the date of the draw back to June. (Or, since 60 percent of CONMEBOL qualifies for the World Cup already, they could buy themselves some time by doing two groups of five and only make it eight games for each team instead of 18, but I digress.)
Africa should be OK since the second round doesn't start until October, but they also don't participate in the March playoffs, so they've got plenty of wiggle room. Asian qualifying doubles for both the World Cup and their continental championship, so they were right smack in the middle of it and really need to figure out what they're gonna do. CONCACAF has new tiered qualifying structure, but the Hex isn't scheduled to get underway until late August, so there's no trouble yet (although they do have to squeeze the Nations League finals somewhere in there).
Another area where they got lucky with this late World Cup is with the domestic leagues. That was initially the biggest concern with the 2022 World Cup being scheduled for when it is. The World Cup being scheduled right in the middle of the season causes quite a disruption. But after this year's massive disruption, working around that one will be a piece of cake!
Most European leagues start sometime in August, take a break for a few weeks in the winter (which, coincidentally enough, is right around when the 2022 World Cup is scheduled), then the Champions League final is at the end of May, giving them enough time to join their national teams for the summer tournaments. That schedule has to be altered in 2022, though. Just like this year's does.
Assuming they're able to resume this season (which is no guarantee), it won't be until June at the earliest. If they want to play every game that's remaining on the schedule, it would take upwards of six weeks, and that's assuming two matches a week for everybody. That takes them until the end of July, which obviously doesn't leave enough time to start next season in August, so next season will have to be delayed as well.
That's an argument for cancelling the remainder of the season, which is on the table. They seem committed to playing as many games as possible once it's safe to do so, though. That leads me to believe they'd be willing to delay the start of the 2020-21 season. Although, they'll still have to finish next season in time for the rescheduled Euro, which would be virtually impossible unless they push some games to after the continental tournaments.
Say they play the 2021 Champions League Final right after the Olympics (there's only one available Saturday between the Euro and the Olympics, so before wouldn't work). Then they have an abbreviated off season and start in late September instead of mid-August. You eliminate an off week or two during the season and play the 2022 Champions League Final in late June.
Knowing that you're getting a month-long break in November/December anyway, pushing the 2021-22 season into June shouldn't make too much of a difference. Then you start and finish the 2022-23 season a little later than usual before everything is back to normal in 2023-24, when the Euro starts sometime in June and the Paris Olympics begin in July.
Is any of this ideal? Of course not! But they were gonna have to make some adjustments for the 2022 World Cup one way or another. They certainly didn't anticipate a global pandemic that shuts down all sports worldwide for months, but working around that end up leading to a solution to the 2022 problem. And after that, maybe everything will be back to normal. Hopefully!
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