DILI (2 Sept 2014) – FIFA have sent out a circular to all Member Associations to restrict national teams to play just two international matches at any one international match calendar.
Excerpts from the letter as per below:
At its meeting on 20 March 2013, the FIFA Executive Committee ratified the international match calendar for the September 2014 to July 2018 period (these dates can already be found on FIFA.com – cf. enclosure).
As you will already be aware, this international match calendar has been drawn up after a vast consultation process involving representatives of the confederations, leagues and clubs.
Consequently, this circular outlines the main aspects of the calendar as weil as the information you will need to understand the calendar before it comes into force in September 2014.
Period: as mentioned above, this international match calendar will be in force between September 2014 and July 2018 (i.e. the final day of the 2018 FIFA World CUpTM).
The period has been divided into two cycles, 2014-2016 and 2016-2018. Each cycle has nine double-dates, each corresponding to a period stretching from a Monday to the Tuesday of the following week.
All of the confederations – with the exception of UEFA – may also use an extra double-date that is scheduled for June 2016.
Matches: national teams may only play a maximum of two international matches in any one international match period. There shall also be at least three days between two matches of any national team.
In other words, if a national team plays its first match on a Thursday, it cannot play its second match until the following Sunday. It should be noted that if a national team’s two matches are not played on the territory of the same confederation, the maximum flight time for the national team between the venues of the two matches shall be five hours over a maximum of two time zones.
The letter was signed by Jerome Valcke, the secretary general of FIFA.
