<div id="attachment_4018" style="width: 250px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/garber_gulati.jpg"><div><figure class="external-image"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4018" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-4018" src="http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/garber_gulati.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="180"></figure></div></a>We are the champions!</div>
Recently we’ve shared that various soccer luminaries such as Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson has advocated a spring-to-fall schedule change in advance of the 2022 World Cup.&nbsp; Now we find out that UEFA itself is advancing well past the thinking stage.
The <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/platini-plans-for-summer-season-outrage-big-five-2190137.html" target="_blank">British</a> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/international/8271294/World-Cup-2022-Fifa-on-the-defensive-over-calendar-changes.html" target="_blank">press </a>is reporting that the English Premier League and Bundesliga are gearing up to fight a UEFA (specifically, Michel Plantini) plan to implement a spring-to-fall schedule permanently for UEFA member leagues and alter the qualification calendar for international events.&nbsp; The plan, which would hypothetically be put in place by 2015, supposedly echoes a proposal Plantini wrote for Sepp Blatter and FIFA in 1998 to change the calendar then, but was scrapped because of opposition from Italy and Spain.
All European leagues would run their schedule from mid-March to the end of October.&nbsp; Qualification for the World Cup or European Championship would take place from November to mid-December, with the final tournaments played mid-January through February.&nbsp; The articles also reveal that FIFA officials have been planning for a winter World Cup in 2022, despite their assertions otherwise.&nbsp; In fact, it looks like Qatar was always going to be a winter World Cup, with the executive committee moving forward with January 2022 planning since the December 2 vote.
My first thought on reading this is I am glad UEFA is planning to make the move three years before the Russian World Cup, where I am sure a winter World Cup will be….quite pleasant.&nbsp; But it seems like the movement toward a winter 2022 Cup (and consequently a spring-to-fall schedule) has been in the works for at least the past 45 days, probably more.&nbsp; So anything FIFA has said so far about the 2018 and 2022 bid process has to be somewhat doubted if they’ve lied about the Qatar scheduling.
My second thought is that the major European leagues would never go for this.&nbsp; I think some of the smaller European leagues (I’m looking at you Scotland) would fall in-line with UEFA, but this would be a major headache to the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue Un.&nbsp; It would be especially bad for Italy and Spain where summer temperatures approach 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
But let’s assume UEFA is 100% in favor of this and forces all their leagues to switch to spring-to-fall.&nbsp; All of the sudden, little stubborn MLS would be a trend setter in the soccer world.&nbsp; The same nation whose president was told to his face that they needed to conform to the rest of the world’s schedule would now be the one to whom the world would conform.&nbsp; Quite a nice vindication for Don Garber and USSF who have remained unmoved by the international pressure.
What are some of the other consequences of a European schedule switch?
<ul>
<li>No more Landon Donovan to Everton loans for a few months.&nbsp; If MLS and UEFA play at the same time, American stars cannot go to Europe for a few months and return for the second half of the MLS season.&nbsp; While this would alleviate some of the Beckham transfer drama, my fear would be that big name Americans would just go to Europe and not play in MLS at all during their peak years.&nbsp; This could exacerbate the league’s talent drain.</li>
<li>Fewer tours of the U.S. by big European clubs.&nbsp; Manchester United and Barcelona probably wouldn’t want to do a 12-day tour in the winter with the chance of their matches being snowed out.&nbsp; So either they would tour the South (excellent for Miami and Dallas) or limit themselves to only one or two stops.&nbsp; And if international qualifiers are occurring, then the biggest clubs would be reduced to their second team even more so than they are now.</li>
</ul>
I will believe a UEFA spring-to-fall when I see it, but we have definitely learned two things from this story: the fall-to-spring schedule is not sacrosanct and FIFA’s pronouncements cannot be trusted.

Report: UEFA Planning to Adopt MLS Scheduling

Report: UEFA Planning to Adopt MLS Scheduling - World Soccer Talk

<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12608" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/EPL-Talk-Podcast-Logo-draft-300x242.jpg" alt="EPL Talk Podcast Logo draft" width="300" height="242"></figure></div>
On this episode of the EPL Talk podcast, Soccerex’s Misha Sher rejoined the podcast to talk about …
<ul>
<li>his views on the stage of the World Cup 2018 bids,</li>
<li>any improvements in England’s bid,</li>
<li>the strength of Russia’s bid,</li>
<li>Soccerex’s recent European Expo in Manchester,</li>
<li>American sports business models and European football,</li>
<li>the debt problems in the Premiership,</li>
<li>the Red Knights’ movement,</li>
<li>the importance of Champions League for Liverpool,</li>
<li>the Reds’ on-the-pitch problems,</li>
<li>his views on the new North American Soccer League.</li>
</ul>

Misha Sher Interview: EPL Talk Podcast

Misha Sher Interview: EPL Talk Podcast - World Soccer Talk

<div><figure class="external-image"><img src="/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/usa-england.jpg" alt="USA and England badges" align="right" vspace="15" hspace="15"></figure></div>The United States announced this week that it’s interested in hosting the 2018 World Cup. No surprise there. They’ve been talking about bidding for the 2018 World Cup for quite some time although an official campaign launch isn’t expected until later this summer. However, the British media treated the news as a revelation and a threat to England’s own 2018 World Cup bid, but I have a solution which may satisfy both camps.
World Cup 2018 will be one of the most competitive bidding processes. In addition to heavyweight bids such as England and the USA, other countries interested in bidding are Russia, China, Australia, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Canada, the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) and a joint bid by Israel and Palestine.
It would be a massive achievement for either England or the United States to win the bid against those countries. Both face stiff competition from countries that have never hosted the tournament. Plus FIFA will be salivating at the prospect of expanding the World Cup into countries that would generate huge amounts of revenue from new sponsors (yes, I’m looking at you China).
My plan to make the 2018 World Cup the best one yet is simple. Instead of competing against each other and offering weaker bids, England and the United States should join together and launch a joint bid.
You may think the idea is ridiculous, but consider the following arguments:
<ol>
<li>Joint bids are all the rage right now. Euro 2008 will be hosted by Austria and Switzerland. Euro 2012 will be hosted by Poland and Ukraine. World Cup 2002 was hosted by South Korea and Japan. So, without a doubt, the precedent has been set.</li>
<li>The distances between the United Kingdom and United States are not a concern. The driving time between the two farthest cities in this summer’s Euro 2008 competition (Geneva to Vienna) is more than nine hours (the mode of transport used by teams in the tournament will be <a href="http://www.spaotp.com/2008/05/euro-2008-15-days-to-go.html" target="_blank">buses</a>). We all know how convenient it is to fly from the UK to the States, so consider the following flying times for direct flights between the recommended eight host cities:
<ol>
<li>London to New York: 7 hours, 25 minutes</li>
<li>Manchester to Chicago: 8 hours, 15 minutes</li>
<li>London to Miami: 9 hours, 5 minutes</li>
<li>Bristol to Newark: 7 hours, 55 minutes</li>
<li>Birmingham to Newark: 7 hours, 50 minutes</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
Birmingham and Bristol are preferred over other cities in England because they have direct flights to and from the United States. If the FA wants to expand the number of cities that host matches in the UK, that’s fine as long as they’re within close driving range to airports in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol. The FA has already discussed the possibility of Bristol being selected as a host city, so a new stadium would need to be built there (groundsharing between Bristol City and Bristol Rovers would be the smart choice). Birmingham would be an ideal choice for building a new, larger stadium (or Villa Park could be used).
The US cities would be primarily east coast locations except for Chicago (Soldier Field). New York could have its own stadium by 2018. Stadiums in other cities could include Meadowlands (near Newark, New Jersey) and Dolphin Stadium (Miami).
The United States and England combining forces would present a formidable bid. Sure, there’ll be plenty of egos and pride at stake, so it’s possible that England’s FA (Football Association) wouldn’t consider the idea, but if the race gets more competitive, the best opportunity to bring the World Cup back to England may be to join forces with the country that hosted the most successful World Cup in its history, the United States (World Cup 94).

How England Or The United States Can Win The 2018 World Cup Bid

How England Or The United States Can Win The 2018 World Cup Bid - World Soccer Talk

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