THE controversial 2022 World Cup in Qatar is set to wreak havoc to the Premier League schedule.
England’s top-flight will break for SEVEN weeks while the tournament goes on – with the final pencilled in for December 18.
The Prem will then resume just a week later on Boxing Day 2022.
It comes 16 Match Days into the season – three before the halfway stage of the 38 game campaign.
With the World Cup lasting 28 days, the last 16 round of the Carabao Cup will take place in the midweek before Christmas, and the December 26 fixtures will see the resumption of Prem activity during the festive period.
That’s after breaking following the conclusion of games on the weekend of November 12-13.
The season will, as revealed by SunSport in September, finish on Sunday May 28, with the FA Cup Final the following Saturday, a week before the Champions League Final.
In a statement, a Premier League spokesperson said: “The Premier League 2022/23 season dates have been confirmed.
“The season has been adjusted to accommodate the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 which will take place in the middle of the domestic calendar.
“The Premier League season will start on 6 August 2022. Match Round 16 will be the last set of matches played over the weekend of 12-13 November ahead of the call-up period for the tournament beginning on Monday 14 November.
“The League will resume on Boxing Day following the FIFA World Cup Final, which takes place on Sunday 18 December 2022.
“The final match round of the campaign will be played on 28 May 2023, when all games will kick off simultaneously as usual.”
Things get underway on August 6 – the weekend before the start of the campaign this year.
Club bosses agreed that the season will start early because of the winter World Cup getting underway on November 21.
The season will include 34 weekend Match Days, three mid-weeks and one Bank Holiday round.
And there will still be a standalone weekend for the FA Cup final.
Prem chiefs have tried to keep the season as close as possible to the usual format – while incorporating the break needed for the World Cup to take place.
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