Chris Wood - World Cup 2022

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Terry Cochrane
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Chris Wood - World Cup 2022

Post by Terry Cochrane » Wed Nov 17, 2021 2:16 pm

Will we lose Chris Wood for 2- 3 weeks in March?

From The Times

Covid casts long shadow over Oceania, where 2022 World Cup qualifying has not even begun

Fifa’s remotest outlands, consisting of New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and other Pacific island countries, face a race against time to put forward a team to take part in the play-offs for Qatar

As qualifying for the 2022 World Cup reaches its decisive juncture in Europe this month, there is a frustrated corner of the football world where a ball is yet to be kicked.

The islands nations of the Pacific region are used to being outliers. With only 13 members representing a combined population of fewer than 10 million people, football in Fifa’s remotest outlands looks different. Tiny states separated by eight million square miles of sea, the administration of international competition is its own logistical puzzle.

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has been at the mercy of the pandemic. Qualifying for Qatar had been due to start in September 2020. Sweeping border closures in the region forced its cancellation, and a new schedule was made for June 2021. That plan too proved unworkable, as did proposed dates for January next year.

The OFC is in a race against time and against the pandemic itself. The deadline for getting games played is June 2022, when the inter-continental leg of qualifying is due to take place. The confederation must put forward the winner of its section to face a side from Asia, South America or North and Central America, or else potentially forfeit the chance of being represented in Qatar.

Despite the disruption, the search for a solution is “progressing well”, says Chris Kemp, the OFC competitions director who is based in Auckland. There is a hope that the confederation will be in a position to play its whole qualifying tournament during the international window in March, with Qatar itself a probable location. Since only 11 of the confederation’s 13 members are eligible for the World Cup, in sporting terms it feels eminently achievable. Yet there remain obstacles outside the control of the OFC and its member associations.

“This is a unique situation,” Kemp says. “With some people, not necessarily Fifa, we have to continually remind them of what the reality is down here. We don’t have open borders. We don’t have airlines operating. We’ve got compulsory isolation up to 21 days upon entering some countries. The decisions being made at a governmental level are very, very cautious.”

Football in the Pacific region has been a victim of the pandemic on extraordinary terms. In these islands, Covid-19 has posed challenges that appear alien to most of the world. The narrative that posits relative isolation as an advantage against disruption caused by the virus has proven a frustrating myth.

Some governments have pursued elimination rather than containment. Tonga recorded its very first Covid case as recently as October, while in the same month Vanuatu registered its first cases since March 2020, both of which came as a result of repatriation. In global terms, it represents tremendous success. But the cost has been borders hermetically sealed for more than 18 months, including for the islands’ footballers.

Others have counted the cost of failing to keep the virus out. Last week, the head of Papua New Guinea’s health board reported that the country’s four biggest hospitals were at capacity because of Covid cases, with mortuaries struggling to cope and emergency plans being prepared for mass burials. In small states with modestly developed health services, the cost of failing to hold back the virus has been traumatising.

“Looking around the countries, we’ve had some dramatic outbreaks,” Kemp says. “Fiji has had a significant period of lockdown. New Caledonia and Tahiti too. Others have then looked at that and thought, ‘We don’t want that in our country.’

“For the World Cup games, part of the issue is airlines. Some countries are now serviced by one flight per week and their priority is repatriation.

“Vaccination programs have started in all countries. American Samoa began back in December. The Cook Islands are our smallest member, there are about 17,000 people there, they’re vaccinating 12-year-olds. Tourism is so significant for them that they need to be ready for when the borders open.

“But we’ve got some countries where it’s a challenge to get them vaccinated because of their environment. Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands have a well-spread population, and some of them are in remote locations. Getting to them is very difficult. Some of the places you can only reach by boat. It takes hours.”

The OFC is yet to formally plan for the worst-case scenario — one in which the public health situation prevents teams from travelling to Qatar in March — but Kemp admits that the confederation nominating a member to take part in the play-offs is a possibility. In truth, there is little other alternative.

“We would need to get an understanding if that is even allowed,” Kemp says. “But we’re doing everything possible to avoid getting into that situation. We’ve got a good number of member associations who have indicated that they will get support from their governments to go to Qatar.

“We think we can organise it safely. The Arab Cup is being organised by Fifa there [beginning on November 30], and it’s a very well-developed medical country. The barriers are starting to crumble down.”

aggi
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Re: Chris Wood - World Cup 2022

Post by aggi » Mon Dec 13, 2021 10:06 am

Latest story seems to be that clubs don't want to release the players
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/footba ... ER45DUIQU/

daveisaclaret
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Re: Chris Wood - World Cup 2022

Post by daveisaclaret » Mon Dec 13, 2021 10:09 am

Not the nicest thing to suggest maybe but you have to wonder why in the circumstances they don’t just sit down and agree that New Zealand qualify.

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