By Mark Baber
30 January – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (pictured), chairman of the European Club Association and Bayern Munchen, says a rescheduling of the season away from winter football could be on the cards.
Speaking to France Football magazine he said: “Everywhere, be it Germany, France or England, summer is the best period of the year. And that is the season we don’t play. In deepest winter, when it is very cold and snowing, we play nearly all the time in conditions that are disagreeable for both players and spectators. It is not logical.”
According to Rummenigge FIFA and UEFA are “seriously thinking” about a change in the football calendar so that European leagues would open in January and finish at the end of autumn.
Rummenigge, who is one of the greatest German players of all time and captained two world cup final teams, said: “In future, there could be two phases: one for club competitions, the other for qualifying matches or finals of the World Cup or the Euros.”
UEFA president, Michel Platini has appealed for the 2022 World Cup to be moved to the winter, rather than in the scorching heat of the Arabian summer, and Rummenigge suggested this might be the opportunity to make permanent changes.
“It is clear that there will soon be negotiations to examine what can be done. My point of view is that an eventual change to the calendar shouldn’t be viewed critically but more as an innovation that could improve the general context,” said Rummenigge.
The logic of playing in the cold is something which has been discussed before of course, in the context of introducing a winter break for players in England. Speaking to Insideworldfootball’s chief correspondent Andrew Warshaw in 2002, one German official supported the English set-up of playing in the cold and rain saying: “It’s the same with the winter break. We have had very good experiences in Germany with a gap when the players get a well-earned rest. But I like the English set-up and I’m not sure it’s the right moment for them to introduce a break, especially since next season there will be fewer matches to play in the Champions’ League. To reduce the domestic league as well could potentially be extremely damaging financially.”
That official was, of course, a slightly younger Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
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