THE OPENING MATCH for this year’s World Cup, between hosts Qatar and Ecuador, will be brought forward by one day to 20 November, World Cup sources told AFP on Wednesday.
The move, which should be approved by the FIFA Council before the 100-day countdown starts this week, will retain the tradition of the first match featuring the host country.
Under the existing arrangement, Senegal and the Netherlands play the first game on 21 November, followed by the official inauguration match between Qatar and Ecuador later that day.
The World Cup sources said that confirmation of the change was expected soon. FIFA and the Qatari organising committee declined to comment.
“There were discussions and agreement between the two respective teams and there was a request from CONMEBOL – the South American confederation,” one World Cup source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity as no official decision has been announced.
“We wanted to follow the tradition that either the reigning champions or the host country be involved in the opening match,” the source added.
For fans who have tickets for the November 21 game, “any disruption will be dealt with so impact is minimal”, another tournament source told AFP.
Under the change, Netherlands v Senegal would be moved from 1:00pm (1000 GMT) on November 21 to a 7:00pm start. “It is a better slot for both teams for television and other areas,” said the World Cup source.
There are a lot of columns on this player across every outlet but none ever seem to address what exactly her concerns are and/or what would it take to get her to play for Norway again. It appears it started due to the Norway womens team not getting the same treatment as the mens team so proper order in putting their foot down until they got that, but as far as it was reported the Norwegians addressed that issue fairly comprehensively and yet she still won’t play.
Problem is that it doesn’t bring in as much money as the men’s game. You can expect to play in front of a fraction of the crowd and still expect the same money. That said, previous stories of the FAI expecting women’s teams to hand back gear and be out of pocket for representing their country is crazy. If the women’s game generates as much money, they should be paid accordingly, but as things stand, it doesn’t.
@Rocky: expenses being equal should be a given. The national team is the national team regardless of gender. There was a time the irish women got about €30 a day per diem while on international duty or at training camp etc which might not sound much but when you are taking your annual leave from working in the type of job a 21 or 22 year old might have it was nice to have. Of course the Big Cheese pulled that rug out from under them disgracefully.
@Rocky: But most are not talking about appearance money they’re talking about the basics. Proper kit, proper medical, proper training facilities, showcasing, insurance, and decent expenses. In many cases the latter is way more important as they don’t earn nearly as much as your average Male player…and if they are representing their country, which for most will be the height of media exposure, all of the above is the least they should be getting