This seems to be very interesting news. The Premier League is contemplating to have a round of games abroad. The move to increase the number of matches per team/ season to 39 was given the thumbs up signal by all 20 Premiership clubs.
Although this unlikely to materialise before 2011, the news has already evoked mixed reactions from the footballing community.
BBC sports editor Mihir Bose views it as a logical move ( see BBC report), while several others have clearly expressed that they do not approve of the plan .
The games will be played in five different cities. Each city will host 2 games, and therefore four clubs will travel to each city. Cities will bid for the right to host, and not for individual matches.
Important point there- when a city bids, it doesn’t know whether it will be hosting Manchester United- Tottenham, or Sunderland vs Derby County. If it is the latter, then it is very likely that it will burn its fingers and won’t return in the next year.
The top teams are likely to be seeded in order to ensure that they do not play each other.
Another thing- the whole purpose of the home and away games is to give both teams an equal opportunity while playing each other. If Watford happen to draw Manchester United in China,for them, it will feel like playing another away game at Old Trafford.
And these points will count in the final score, and could make the difference between relegation and staying up. So if one relegation threatened team draws a tough opponent, and the other does not, supporters of the first will feel hard done.
As Bose said, in some way, it is but a natural progression given where the Premiership is now. It rakes in millions of pounds via advertising and television subscriptions, and Asia is not only a source of fans, but the economies there are growing quite well.
The games are likely to take place in January, which means the players will not have to sweat it out in the extreme conditions that prevail in certain cities in the Northern Hemisphere during summer.
Your thoughts ?
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I have my concerns about player burnout. They play too many games during december-jan period.