A schedule closer to normality, even if still swollen by competitions postponed due to Covid-19. This is what is expected of the sports calendar in 2022.
In football, the first major event will be the pending Club World Cup last season, held after the holidays for the second consecutive time and again with the presence of Palmeiras.
The most anticipated attraction is the World Cup. And the wait will be long, as the tournament has been moved to the end of the year — not because of the pandemic, but because of weather conditions in Qatar. Brazil and 12 other countries have already guaranteed places, and the other 19 will be decided by March.
The spotlight will be focused mainly on the European recap. The new competition format, with semifinals and finals in single and eliminatory duels, promises even more emotion. As if it wasn’t enough to see Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and other stars in the hot seat.
In Brazil, the CBF held state championships on 16 dates, until the beginning of April. With the schedule even tighter due to the World Cup, national and continental competitions will end a little earlier than usual: the winners of the Copa do Brasil, Sudamericana and Libertadores will be announced in October.
The schedule is also full of Olympic sports, as the year will focus on world championships that were already planned — such as volleyball and women’s basketball — and others rescheduled during the pandemic — such as swimming, athletics and beach volleyball.
Another highlight is the Winter Olympics. Beijing will become the first city to host both versions of the competition, having hosted the Summer Games in 2008. The choice, however, created a crisis and led to the diplomatic boycott of countries like the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. Brazil will be represented in at least two events: cross country skiing and alpine skiing.
In addition, the forecast is that most competitions will be held in pre-pandemic molds. The world tennis, surfing and Formula 1 circuits, for example, announced full schedules for the year. The main category of motorsport, in fact, predicts the biggest season in its history, with 23 races.
Despite the expectation for normality, it is always worth mentioning that the pandemic is not over and may again cause postponements or transfers, as in the case of the Copa America de Futsal. After an impasse with Conmebol regarding the sanitary measures in force in Brazil, the CBF requested the cancellation of the tournament, scheduled to start on January 29, in Rio.
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