Championship could be forced into mid-season breaking during Qatar World Cup

EFL Chief Executive Shaun Harvey has admitted that the 2022/23 Championship season may be disrupted by the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

There have already been a number of alterations to allow the 2022 World Cup to be played in Qatar. The finals are scheduled to run across a 28-day period between November and December, moving the tournament from its traditional summer slot because of concerns over heat.

This, of course, means that the 2022/23 Premier League season will be broken up as well as will a number of other top leagues across the world.

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In a fresh twist, Harvey has admitted that the Championship may also be disrupted and says the EFL ‘need to take a look’ at what the Qatar World Cup will mean for clubs in the football league.

“It might be that we don’t play some Championship games during that period.

“We have already said we need to take a look at what it actually means for our clubs.

“The statistics say that the majority of (EFL) players are back available after the group stage.

“We are going to have to consult with the clubs, and there is any number of answers that we are going to need from Fifa about being able to broadcast games during that period.”

How many Championship players are likely to be involved?

In total there were 23 players at the World Cup who spent last season playing their domestic football in the Championship.

Harvey added: “We have got to be careful with scheduling, as you wouldn’t want live games going on in this country at the same time as an England quarter-final, semi-final or final.

“But I don’t see any logic why League One and League Two should stop during 2022-23. In a 46-game season, you can’t afford to lose any opportunities.

“You’ve also got to remember that a lot of the leagues, which effectively run from March to October, play during the World Cup anyway.

“It is all to be discussed and decided.”

Seven players that currently ply their trade in the Championship reached the last 8 of the 2018 World Cup, with Jack Butland (Stoke City & England) and Nacer Chadli (West Brom & Belgium) involved in the semi-finals.

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