Wairarapa Times-Age E-Edition

All Whites’ World Cup path drawn

Due to MIQ requirements, it’s unlikely Hay can call up any Wellington Phoenix or local players.

The All Whites’ initial steps towards the 2022 World Cup have been set, with a qualification tournament in Qatar next March.

The Oceania Football Confederation [OFC] met earlier this week to rubberstamp the unique proposal, which has needed signoff from Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation.

The NZ Herald understands it has since been confirmed.

Despite the challenges of covid — which have made it impossible to host a qualifying tournament within the region — OFC were determined to find a way to have an event and ensure their representative found via football, rather than through a nomination based on world rankings.

Holding a tournament in the Middle East presents significant logistical challenges, especially getting the teams from the Island nations to Qatar, but OFC are confident it can be done.

The games will be played during a portion of the March international matches window, which means that All Whites coach Danny Hay should have access to most of his players -– for at least some of the time — although gaining their release must be negotiated.

The tournament will be over three weeks, so it is expected that OFC will try to negotiate an extended window with Fifa. That is not without precedent, as the South American confederation were recently granted an extended phase to allow three matches and recovery time within the September window.

It was initially planned that the Qatar tournament would be held in January 2022, which would have allowed the OFC representative to play some friendly matches in March.

But the timing has proved too tight.

It was hoped that the qualifying event could be hosted in New Zealand, but MIQ couldn’t provide quarantine allowances for the competing nations [around eight teams are expected]. Fiji and New Caledonia were also seen as other host options, but that didn’t prove feasible.

Eighteen days will be needed to stage the event, with two groups of four teams followed by semifinals and a final.

It will be a major logistical challenge for all countries, especially the All Whites, with their players based across the globe. Due to MIQ requirements, it’s unlikely Hay can call up any Wellington Phoenix or local players.

Instead, he will select from the group playing in Europe and the US, though availabilities will depend on quarantine requirements after returning from the Middle East.

The March date also means it may be hard to arrange preparation matches for the Oceania champion ahead of the Intercontinental playoffs, should they go ahead in June 2022 as forecast.

SPORT/WEATHER

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2021-09-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://times-age.pressreader.com/article/282338273007668

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