WITH the novel coronavirus pandemic jeopardising the start of 2022 World Cup qualifying for teams in the CONCACAF region, FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani noted their already revised format will change to align with the compressed calendar, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Montagliani acknowledged the complexity of relaunching competition as domestic leagues; national teams and overlapping international tournaments compete for space in a compressed timeline.

The CONCACAF president did, however, warned that it is still way too early to make any assumptions about when competition can restart, though the next FIFA window is in early September.

The regional qualifying phase, known as the hexagonal, is scheduled to start in September. But in the wake of international windows in March and June cancelled and uncertainty about the resumption of sports in general, qualifiers in September and beyond might not occur as scheduled.

The likelihood of international matches of any kind in September is “not very high,” said Montagliani.

FIFA, football’s global governing body, recently formed a working group to look into changing the international windows for World Cup qualifiers and other competitions.

Montagliani told reporters during a conference call that CONCACAF is looking into “the possibilities and probabilities. If this calendar is going to change, how is it going to change and how will that affect the format of the World Cup qualifying, which in likelihood will happen.”

Under current guidelines, the six regional teams ranked highest by FIFA are scheduled to play one another home and away for a total of 10 matches apiece between this September and June 2021.

Three would earn automatic berths to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and a fourth would enter a playoff against the winner of a second-tier regional competition in fall 2021. That survivor would advance to an international playoff in spring 2022.

The World Cup will not take place until November and December 2022 because of oppressive heat in Qatar in the summer, yet Montagliani said, calendar issues are “piling up at our doorstep. We may have to look at reformatting how this looks. Whether it’s a hexagonal or some other shape that is part of a kid’s block set, I don’t know.

“We just don’t know what this thing is going to look like until we know what the (FIFA) calendar is going to look like and how this calendar fits into our entire ecosystem.”

Although World Cup qualifying is the most visible competition, the CONCACAF president said the idea is to ensure that everyone is given a fair chance at qualifying for the world’s most-view single sporting event.

CONCACAF also must reschedule qualifiers for the 2021 Gold Cup and the last phase of the inaugural Nations League, whose semifinals; third-place game and final were scheduled June 4-7 at three Texas venues and serve as the last tune-ups before World Cup qualifying.

Also, Montagliani said the vote to choose the 2023 Women’s World Cup location, initially scheduled for June, might take place in September. The candidates are a joint-bid of Australia and New Zealand; Japan; Brazil; and Colombia.