Qatar 2022: "Eliminating the Round of 16 is a good option (to shorten World Cup)" (A. Rettig, DFL)

"I think eliminating the first World Cup knockout round (Round of 16) is a good option; instead of the top two group stage finishers advancing, only the group winner (would advance). We could move directly to playing the quarter-finals," stated Andreas Rettig, the COO of the DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga, the German Professional Football League), to the magazine kicker on 01/03/2015.

During its meeting on 24/02/2015, the FIFA task force on the organisation of international calendar for 2018-2024 has "identified the late November - end of December 2022 period as the most viable for the organisation the 2022 World Cup." Many media outlets reported that the tournament could begin Saturday, 26/11/2022 and end Friday, 23/12/2022, a period of 28 days.

"It can not be that the World Cup will be reduced from 32 to 28 days, but yet the players must complete the same number of games," added Rettig. "The burden for the top players would thereby be increased, and at the conclusion the clubs will end up footing the bill because of the injuries piling up after the World Cup."

Move the 2021…