Qatar 2022 poses problems for the calendar

Traditionally, professional football stops around most of the planet while the World Cup is being staged. No one objects, largely because it’s generally close season in the northern hemisphere.

Qatar 2022 will be different and difficult because it will not sit in the convenient European summer. The complications are clear from confirmation from the Premier League and the Football League of how next season’s schedule will be rearranged to squeeze in the historic first winter finals in the Gulf.

England’s clubs provide a larger percentage of players to a World Cup than any other country, so it may be the only nation in which both the top two divisions are halted rather than just the primary competition.

The Premier League