What happens to Sheffield Wednesday fixtures during the World Cup and when will matches get postponed?

The domestic football calendar faces major disruption this winter as authorities attempt to shoehorn the Qatar World Cup into the height of the European season.
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The 2022 World Cup, which traditionally takes place during the summer of course, starts on November 21 and will end on December 18.

So what of Sheffield Wednesday fixtures and how much disruption will Wednesdayites face?

Here you go.

Sheffield Wednesday fans watch on during the Sky Bet League One match at Charlton Athletic last season.Sheffield Wednesday fans watch on during the Sky Bet League One match at Charlton Athletic last season.
Sheffield Wednesday fans watch on during the Sky Bet League One match at Charlton Athletic last season.

So what happens?

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In a nutshell, nothing – it’s as you were. Had Wednesday been promoted to the Championship, everything would have paused for a month while the first month of the World Cup was played out in Qatar.

But League One? No such luck. Play on, say the powers that be.

“Match round 16 in the Championship, set to take place on Saturday, November 12, will be the final round of fixtures played ahead of the call-up period for the tournament, which begins on Monday, November 14,” read an EFL statement released last year.

“The Championship will resume on December 10 2022 following the culmination of the World Cup group stages, whilst League One and League Two fixtures will continue as normal.”

So no postponements, then?

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Well, not quite. The World Cup constitutes an international match and the rules are the rules are the rules, meaning that if any League One club is the subject of call-ups to three players or more, the club have the option of a postponement.

This happened to Wednesday last season when Sunderland postponed a fixture that fell on an international weekend.

But they had to do without Northern Ireland goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell on two occasions when he was called up.