The Football Association and Premier
League are under intense pressure to solve potential
fixture problems before next year's World Cup, reports The
Guardian.
Fifa's rules forbid domestic-season fixtures taking place after
16 May, yet with the season due to kick off on 15 August, it means
all 38 league fixtures must be crammed into 34 available weekends,
with 19 midweek dates already ruled out due to international and
Uefa competition commitments.
On top of this there are changes due to take place to the format
for next year's Champions League, as well as the extension of the
Uefa Cup into the longer-form Europa League.
A memorandum of understanding signed between Uefa and the
European professional leagues, whose president is the
Premier League chairman, Sir
Dave Richards, in March, demands that clubs "respect the
international match calendar and ensure all member leagues abstain
in scheduling matches in dates reserved for Uefa club competition
matches … unless exceptional circumstances so justify and it is
agreed with Uefa on a case-by-case basis".
Although in practice Uefa has in the past shown flexibility over
the issue, clubs believe there must be formal permission for their
league fixtures to be scheduled during the key February-March
period in the case of postponements.
"If there are FA Cup replays or displaced Premier League
fixtures we're told they can't currently be played on Champions
League or Europa Cup nights," said an insider involved in
Thursday's club meeting. "There is also the potential for more
fixture displacement depending on how clubs do in the Europa
League."
The dispute over next season's fixture congestion will be talked
through, probably next week, between the chief executives of the
FA, Premier League and Football League, when the weekend of 16 May
is likely to be reserved for the FA Cup final. That means the
Premier League is set to run next season from 15 August to 9
May.