International double-headers to be staggered over ‘Week of Football’

INTERNATIONAL teams will have just a two-day break between matches in World Cup and European Championship double-headers, in what is being dubbed ‘The Week of Football’.

From 2014, qualifiers will be played across six days between Thursdays and Tuesdays to maximise TV coverage and broadcast income, Uefa has announced. Teams will play either Thursdays and Sundays, Fridays and Mondays, or Saturdays and Tuesdays. Most double-headers are currently being played on Fridays and Tuesdays – leaving the weekends without football.

Scotland have proved the exception to that rule in recent rounds of qualifiers, opting to play the Czech Republic on a Saturday last month in the only international fixture of the day, and they will do the same this weekend. Craig Levein’s side face Liechtenstein on Saturday, while the remainder of Euro 2012 qualifiers will be played tomorrow.

Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino told the Leaders in Football conference in London yesterday: “You can play every three days – it’s what’s happening in club football all year long so that’s not a problem. This has been unanimously supported by all 53 national associations. If we leave the weekend to other sports then in the medium and long-term it will be damaging.”

The move coincides with Uefa selling TV rights collectively across Europe and providing national associations with guaranteed income.

Infantino said there would be no clash with the clubs – and that there would in fact be fewer international breaks overall. He added: “This is an important step to promote national team football and the whole of football will benefit.”