Will Europe look to Brazil for its post-Covid-19 football calendar?

Hello, and welcome back to the Brazil Sports newsletter. Still in isolation, we’re having a look at the proposed models to change the football calendar after the coronavirus pandemic, and the outside chance of Europe taking a leaf out of Brazil’s book. Then, we go for a deep dive in Brazilian football history, with a piece on how the game was born in Brazil. Enjoy your read!

Brazil adapting to Europe, or the other way around?

The coronavirus pandemic has exploded the football season all over the world. Almost every national championship has been postponed, and there are no clear answers over when they will be able to resume playing, and how they will reorganize the yearly calendar in the coming seasons.

To play or not to play? The first issue concerns whether tournaments underway will be voided or completed at a later date, causing problems regarding the scheduling of future seasons, and promotion & relegation. In Brazil, this is less of an issue. The national championship has yet to kick off — normally running from May to December — and may well be canceled outright depending on how long isolation measures persist. The suspended state championships, which are of little competitive importance, may remain unfinished.

Going European? In the event that restriction measures are lifted around the middle of the year, there is a chance that the Brazilian season could switch to a European calendar, running from August to May 2021. Either as a temporary measure or a long-term switch, this would throw up a number of issues.

Other side of the world. The reason Brazil plays its football according to the calendar year is geographical. Being in the Southern Hemisphere, January is when Brazilians take their summer holidays, and the weather is far too hot for football. What’s more, the Copa Libertadores has recently established a new calendar — running from March to November — and will not change any time soon. 

Europe going Brazilian? Another possibility, recently floated by Marseille coach André Villas-Boas, is that the European calendar could take the lead from Brazil, switching to a calendar-year schedule. The reason for this is that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is on the horizon, and it will have to be held in December due to the inhospitable temperatures during the Qatari summer. 

• Villas-Boas’ proposal is to use the remainder of this year to finish the ongoing 2019-20 season, and then hold two March-November seasons, adjusting back to the August-May model after the 2022 World Cup. Usually, Brazilian football is forced to look toward Europe for good ideas, this time it might be the opposite.

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