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Hay unhappy with Cup qualifier dates

Phillip Rollo phillip.rollo@stuff.co.nz

All Whites coach Danny Hay has questioned the credibility of next year’s OFC World Cup qualifying tournament in Qatar after the confederation made the extraordinary decision to stage the start of the tournament outside an international window.

The unprecedented move means New Zealand will be denied access to their best players for at least the first two games of the tournament, held from March 14-30. It could result in a farcical scenario where Hay is forced to field a team of amateurs that he has never worked with before.

‘‘This would happen nowhere else in the world,’’ Hay said.

‘‘I’m here in Denmark at the moment and I’m trying to explain how this has transpired, nobody can get their head around it.

‘‘I spoke with the Danish Football Federation today, and they were just bamboozled.

‘‘Imagine saying to the Danish national team that you’ve got World Cup qualifying, but you can’t pick your best players? For me and our players, it’s highly disappointing.’’

The All Whites are disproportionately impacted by the decision to stage the start of the tournament outside an international window as they have significantly more players at professional clubs around the world than their regional rivals.

Only the final group stage games and the knockout stages will take place inside the international window, which starts on March 21 and now runs to the 30th, after Fifa allowed a one-day extension.

‘‘Every single player that I’ve called up to date is a professional player, they’re operating in professional environments, but clubs aren’t going to be willing to hand over their players in the middle of the season.

‘‘We’re going to try to negotiate with clubs and coaches, but the reality is they don’t have to hand them over, and that’s going to be really tough.’’

Without access to his best players for the first two games, Hay said there was a genuine possibility that the team that started the tournament would be completely different to the one that finished it, should the All Whites reach the knockout stages.

Participating nations must submit their squads 24 hours before each game but will have the flexibility to pick players from an ‘‘extensive’’ list throughout the duration of the tournament.

‘‘It’s a tough one to swallow that we are not going to have the opportunity to bring our best players together to give us the best opportunity to qualify,’’ Hay said.

‘‘I’ve got a pretty good handle on what is happening back in New Zealand and if we have to call upon some of those players we have to do it.

‘‘The reality is we’ve been dealt specific cards and we’ve just got to deal with it at the moment.’’

The All Whites will play three pool games against New Caledonia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea and then a semifinal and a final within a 17-day window, should they progress through to the tournament decider.

The overall winner will earn the right to play the fourth place team from Concacaf in a one-off intercontinental playoff match for a place at the World Cup.

OFC competitions director Chris Kemp acknowledged that not everyone would be happy with the tournament format, but he believed it was the ‘‘best option’’ available given the circumstances.

The format was put forward by the executive committee and voted on by the 11 member associations.

Sport

en-nz

2021-12-01T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-01T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/282020445571954

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