CONCACAF has confirmed that the body’s member nations will need to wait until 2021 so as to start qualifying for the 2022 Qatar World Cup .
The federatin announced in August that the competition’s first group stage would commence with four rounds of fixtures to be played within the October and November international windows.
Six qualifiers would then advance to the second round, from which an extra five teams are planned to advance to the ultimate stage alongside top-seeded CONCACAF nations Mexico, us , Costa Rica , Honduras and Jamaica to determined the region’s 3.5 spots for Qatar.
Now, though, the tournament faces further rescheduling because it was deemed that the planned 2020 fixtures won't happen thanks to the lingering danger of the coronavirus pandemic.
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“CONCACAF has held recent discussions with its member associations, FIFA and other stakeholders because the confederation continues to plan for the resumption of its competitions across the region,” the association confirmed during a statement released on its official website on Tuesday.
“Following those discussions, CONCACAF and FIFA have jointly agreed that the CONCACAF Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 won't be played within the FIFA match windows of October or November 2020, and can instead begin with the primary round within the FIFA match window of March 2021.
“Many parts of the region still have very challenging public health situations, which has been a key think about this decision. Additionally, several countries across the confederation have travel restrictions and quarantine requirements, which might make international football involving 30 national teams extremely difficult.
“CONCACAF will now work with FIFA to finalize a replacement schedule, beginning with the primary round in March 2021, which can be communicated in due course.”
The body’s decision puts further doubt on the power to start qualifiers in South America, one among the world’s most-affected regions during the pandemic.
Like CONCACAF, CONMEBOL had determined to start its competition in October, with Argentina hosting Ecuador and Brazil clashing with Bolivia within the scheduled opening round of fixtures.
Given the large number of cases within the continent, however, and therefore the logistical difficulties of organising the qualifiers in such extreme conditions – not least the difficulty of Europe-based players returning to South American within the middle of the club season – it remains to be seen whether the association will follow its neighbour’s lead and keep off matches or plow ahead as planned with the primary fixtures.
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