Now that the ridiculous decision of a winter World Cup has been made, we can see how it has compromised every significant football competition this season, even their own championship game.
FIFA Organizing World Cup: Is it Good or Bad?
No one should hope for it, but it almost seems like a cruel form of justice if over the next two weeks a string of elite athletes are forced to withdraw from Qatar due to minor muscle issues.
Brendan Rodgers criticized the scheduling of the World Cup and asserted that players’ performances across the Premier League are being hampered by their fear of getting hurt. Later this month, the first mid-season World Cup kicks off in Qatar. The event was relocated from its customary time because the Gulf state’s heat made it impractical to hold it during the summer.
The action gets underway on November 20, and while Rodgers hasn’t had any doubts about his Leicester players’ dedication, he thinks it was wrong of the organizers to buck tradition in this way.
Ben Chilwell of England, who was acquired by Chelsea from Leicester in the summer of 2020 for £50 million, is in danger of missing the tournament due to a hamstring injury he sustained against Dinamo Zagreb. Many athletes all over the world are battling an injury-related race against time to get healthy. Before departing on warm-weather training camps in the style of the preseason, the majority of clubs will take a brief break.
Tournament to be Played in Winter, not Summer: Why?
During the final vote in 2010, FIFA chose Qatar over competing bids from Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. Although the FIFA World Cup is typically held in the summer, Qatar 2022 will include a winter tournament. The decision was made mostly as a result of the nation’s extreme summer temperatures.
The reports claim that Qatar is experiencing extreme heat, with even typical temperatures at the end of April reaching over 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 C). In Qatar, and more especially in the Doha region, winter temperatures range from 70 to 77 F (21 to 25 C), while summertime highs in the area exceed 100 F (37 C).
Players Under Massive Disadvantage
The fact that players are being forced into such a situation is horrible, and they are currently most susceptible because they are supposed to perform at their highest level in the final weeks before joining their national team.
Normally, before the opening ceremony, the squads would already be at the pre-tournament training camp, perfecting their strategies. Those who suffered minor injuries at the end of a protracted season would have ample time to recuperate. On the eve of the World Cup, elite footballers frequently get hurt. We could argue that the risk is inherent in the activity and is more the result of bad luck than anything the governing bodies could control.
However, the risks of injuries have significantly increased as a result of top-level actions. The World Cup is scheduled in the middle of the season made that unavoidable. Everyone who even remotely understood the demands placed on a top-level football player was aware of it.
Every player is engaged in a demanding schedule and competes in every match. The pace and brutality of the game had already increased from when Qatar has given the World Cup 12 years ago, with players playing more minutes than ever. No one will have time to rest up before the flight, and they will have lost every last drop of sweat.
Independent of whether the nation should be hosting at all, the tournament’s timing was the main source of criticism. The 2022 World Cup is a representation of Fifa’s supreme power. They continued, destroying the football calendar, confident that nothing could stop them.
The Bottom Line
Many athletes are sidelined or questionable for the world cup due to injuries. While some protect them by not participating in aggressive tackles or playing with the utmost level of intensity during their club matches. Players are having nightmares about being in shape for the winter world cup in the middle of the season.
It’s impossible not to consider the future, just like every other player going to Qatar. There will be times when you are more worried about getting hurt than you are about making powerful challenges or doing as many sprints as a professional player would.
The treatment of players is abhorrent, and all of us who love football have a responsibility to be disgusted by it. Too many people have already experienced the effects.
There are already too many people on the list of confirmed or potential absentees in Qatar. Over the next two weeks, the last games will be watched with dread by every international coach. Players will then be thrown right back into the Premier League after the highs and lows of the competition.
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