FIFA's unprecedented decision threatens the start of Premier League in the future

After several decades in which world soccer seemed to have found a way of doing things and a balance between the different tournaments of each confederation, in recent years that began to change. A prime example of this was the Qatar 2022 World Cup. For almost 100 years, absolutely all World Cups had been played during the northern hemisphere summer, between June and July. However, last year FIFA had to change this to avoid the high temperatures in Qatar, and so moved it to November and December.

And that was just the beginning. UEFA will also make changes starting next year in its own competitions, especially the Champions League. The most important club tournament in the world will have a new format from next season: there will no longer be a group stage, but an initial round in which 36 clubs will have 8 opponents each and then there will be knock-out stages.

And in 2025, FIFA will organize a true Club World Cup for the first time. Although the tournament has existed since 2007, until now the format was reduced to only the champions of each of the six confederations (Europe, South America, North and Central America, Asia, Africa and Oceania) and the champion of the host country's league. In fact, this week the first matches of the tournament are being played in Saudi Arabia in this format.

But in two years a much larger competition will begin, with more teams per continent and a longer duration. The Club World Cup will be played in the United States, starting on June 15 and ending on July 13. However, this may bring an unexpected problem.

What will happen?

FIFA rules state that players must have a rest of at least 28 days at the end of each season. This is usually complied with without problems, but with the new Club World Cup, things could get complicated. The end of that tournament will be in mid-July, about a month before the usual start date of Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A or Ligue 1. This means that these tournaments may have to move their schedules back.