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Former EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey has suggested that English football break free of its traditions in an effort to get back on track after the coronavirus outbreak.
With competitions across Europe on hold, UEFA will meet today to discuss the possibility of altering the football calendar, with the potential of cancelling this summer’s European Championships.
Harvey believes English football should consider running by calendar year up to the Qatar World Cup in 2022, which already presents a challenge for the fixture schedulers.
Wanderers could face a number of challenges if the season is extended significantly but the club have kept their own counsel over the last few days on their future plans.
"There has to be some pain taken out of what is known as our traditional football season at some stage to get this back," Harvey told Sky Sports.
"The question is when do you actually take that pain? You can take the pain at the start of next season, the season after or even the season after that.
"The only logic of that statement is, if you started in January and went through to October you could potentially host the Euros in that November to December slot.
"Yes, we've changed the whole fabric of English football because we're now playing January to October and across Europe and other leagues will have to follow because they all need their leagues to finish. You do exactly the same the year after and we get the Qatar World Cup at the end of that season.
"If I was going to pick a season to treat differently then I'd pick the one after the Qatar World Cup, potentially playing home or away rather than home and away at that time.
"The benefit of doing that is you get two full seasons to repair any financial damage that's taken place, and nobody knows particular division they are going to be in at that particular time.
"So, if it's going to be a short season, everybody knows what it is that they are playing for with plenty of notice and that stops the legal debate and the potential threat of legal action."
Source
With competitions across Europe on hold, UEFA will meet today to discuss the possibility of altering the football calendar, with the potential of cancelling this summer’s European Championships.
Harvey believes English football should consider running by calendar year up to the Qatar World Cup in 2022, which already presents a challenge for the fixture schedulers.
Wanderers could face a number of challenges if the season is extended significantly but the club have kept their own counsel over the last few days on their future plans.
"There has to be some pain taken out of what is known as our traditional football season at some stage to get this back," Harvey told Sky Sports.
"The question is when do you actually take that pain? You can take the pain at the start of next season, the season after or even the season after that.
"The only logic of that statement is, if you started in January and went through to October you could potentially host the Euros in that November to December slot.
"Yes, we've changed the whole fabric of English football because we're now playing January to October and across Europe and other leagues will have to follow because they all need their leagues to finish. You do exactly the same the year after and we get the Qatar World Cup at the end of that season.
"If I was going to pick a season to treat differently then I'd pick the one after the Qatar World Cup, potentially playing home or away rather than home and away at that time.
"The benefit of doing that is you get two full seasons to repair any financial damage that's taken place, and nobody knows particular division they are going to be in at that particular time.
"So, if it's going to be a short season, everybody knows what it is that they are playing for with plenty of notice and that stops the legal debate and the potential threat of legal action."
Source