The football World Cup in Qatar in November, the Winter Olympics, and Munich as the epicenter of Europeans just are some of the great events we can look forward to this coming year
Although there could still be many changes, the 2022 sports calendar reflects the intention of international federations to resume their usual routines, after the many changes of dates that the pandemic has forced onto it, in the last two years, although any apparent normality is blown out of the water when we remember that the football World Cup, the major event of the sporting year, will be held in Qatar in November.
FIFA’s great experiment – at least for now, until the biennial World Cup is approved – will completely change the fixture lists of many leagues, cup competitions, holidays and other football qualifying tournaments across the world, leading to a pre-Christmas tournament from November 21 to December 18, rather unusual dates for a World Cup.
The Competition will bring together 32 teams that will play 64 games, spread over eight air-conditioned stadiums and distanced by just 58 kilometres.
In June, the usual month of previous World Cups, temperatures in Qatar range from between 41.2 to 27.7 degrees, while in November they will be expected to fluctuate between 29.5 and 19.5, much less of a danger for players and the spectating public.
However, the weather conditions, and also the human and labour rights situation at the World Cup headquarters, provide a focus on the tournament that goes far beyond sport, although the on field interest remains very much the same.
France will defend their title won in Russia 2018, a tournament in which Europe demonstrated their unquestionable supremacy, securing 10 of the last 16, and all four semi final places. In 2022, however, Brazil and Argentina, already qualified, will lead the list of American teams that will try to take the Cup back to their continent for the first time since 2002, when Brazil won their fifth title.
The draw for the final phase will take place on 31 March.
The November World Cup will not be the only intruder imposing itself on the footballing agenda in 2022. On 1 June the Italian and Argentina teams will play the so-called ‘Finalissima’, a match in London between the European and American, UEFA and CONMEBOL, which will coincide with the opening of an office of the South American organisation in the city where it will coordinate projects of common interest as well as the organisation of a series of football events in the English capital.
Rumour has it that it could be the first step of a Euro America Cup, with four teams starting in 2025.
In women’s football, the new year will include the Eurocup in England and the Copa América in Colombia, both in June, and with the Netherlands and Brazil as their respective defenders.
Winter Olympics at the same venue as in the summer
Other competitions are also joining the Experimental Club in 2022, starting with the Winter Olympics, which will be held for the first time in a city that has already hosted the Summer Games, Beijing.
What was in 2008 a swimming arena in the Chinese capital, the imposing ‘Water Cube’, will become the ‘Ice Cube’ in order to host curling competitions in February . It is just one example of the adaptability of Beijing facilities: where there was gymnastics there will be ice hockey, where the archers competed, the speed skaters will now participate, where volleyball was played, the figure skaters will do their pirouettes.
As in the Qatar World Cup, human rights issues will also be important at the Beijing Games. Several countries, including the United States, have already issued their intention of a diplomatic boycott which, although it will have only symbolic effect, has greatly angered Chinese organisers.
Davis Cup in evolution
The new formula that the Davis Cup will use in 2022 should also be described as experimental, as it continues to search for the right format to attract tennis players and spectators in the final weeks of the season. The year begins without us knowing where the four final phase groups will be played, nor the single venue that will host the competition from the quarters onwards. Russia won in 2021.
Meanwhile, the reappearance on the tennis courts of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Serena Williams is expected after long absences due to injury, in the case of the Majorcan with an extension due to the coronavirus.
Nadal, Federer and number one Novak Djokovic start the year tied at 20 Grand Slams and it is practically impossible that they will finish in the same situation. Nadal has now arrived in Melbourne from where he tweeted on Saturday “Don’t tell anyone I’m here!”
Now the question over whether he will be joined by his long-time rival Novak Djokovic needs to be answered, with the Serbian yet to confirm whether he will fly to Australia in the coming days.
All players taking part in the Australian Open need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 but Djokovic has repeatedly declined to confirm whether he will comply with that rule.
Unfortunately in the women’s competition we will have to wait a while longer before we can really assess the form of US Open champion Emma Raducanu as she has now decided to skip the Melbourne Summer Set tournament as she recovers from Covid-19 although she has confirmed that she still plans to play in the Australian Open
European multisport in Munich
Another experiment that produced an acceptable result in 2018, the simultaneous European championships involving several sports, will return to the calendar in 2022 with athletics, beach volleyball, canoeing, cycling, gymnastics, rowing, climbing, table tennis and triathlon all gathering in Munich from August 11 to 21.
The coming year also includes in its schedule the world swimming championships in May in Fukuoka (Japan) and athletics in July in Eugene (USA ), the first of a very short Olympic cycle that will conclude in 2024 in Paris.
There will also be the women’s basketball world championship in September, with the qualifying groups in February.
If the successive waves of coronavirus do not dictate otherwise, 2022 will be a year rich in regional and continental competition. In July, the Mediterranean Games in Oran (Algeria), the World Games (non-Olympic disciplines) in Birmingham, USA, and the Commonwealth Games in the other Birmingham, the English one; in September, the Asian Games in Hangzhou (China); in October, the South American Games in Asunción.
Formula 1, MotoGP and NBA
Max Verstappen will hope to pick up where he left off in Formula One, where he is assured of another exciting season of rivalry with Lewis Hamilton. We will also be able to enjoy the exploits of Fabio Quartaro in MotoGP and the Milwaukee Bucks NBA ring, the first in 50 years.
