Full Version: Match V Norway Moved Forward
My apologies if someone posted this on here before - but the information may be of relevance.
Basically, the away World Cup qualifier against Norway - which was scheduled for Wednesday 19th August 2009 - will now be played on Wednesday 12th August 2009. Obviously this is almost a year away, but it will be important for anyone booking their flights or hotels in advance.
The reason for the change is because FIFA have moved the August friendly date forward a week, from next season. This was at the request of UEFA. Up until now, the August friendly has fallen between the first and second legs of the last Champions League qualifying round. However, with the Champions League and UEFA Cup formats changing, UEFA felt it would be better to have the international friendly slot 'between' rounds. So they requested the alteration and it was granted.
Confirmation of the fixture alteration can be found at: http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/worldfootb...emay2008-en.pdf
That FIFA document is dated over a month ago. Why have the SFA not issued a press release about it since then? They still have the date as the 19th on their website.
Confirmation from the SFA that the game may well be moved.
From the TAMB...
From the TAMB...
QUOTE
Colleagues
As some of you will no doubt be aware - FIFA have proposed a change of date for this match, moving it from Aug 19 2009 back to Aug 12 2009.
This is not something that we support - and we are aware that fans may have already booked flights etc.
We are working hard to get a solution to this at present. We hope to get it resolved shortly. In the meantime, don't go booking flights. And, for those who have booked flights, don't go cancelling... As soon as I get any information either way, I will let you know.
As I said, this is a date change put forward by FIFA and is not something that we support. We are working to keep the original date.
Rob
As some of you will no doubt be aware - FIFA have proposed a change of date for this match, moving it from Aug 19 2009 back to Aug 12 2009.
This is not something that we support - and we are aware that fans may have already booked flights etc.
We are working hard to get a solution to this at present. We hope to get it resolved shortly. In the meantime, don't go booking flights. And, for those who have booked flights, don't go cancelling... As soon as I get any information either way, I will let you know.
As I said, this is a date change put forward by FIFA and is not something that we support. We are working to keep the original date.
Rob
Unless the Scotland Supporters Association are going to persuade UEFA to delay the entire UEFA Cup and Champions League by a week, then there is no resolution that can be achieved. Midweek of August 19th is allocated to the first leg of the final qualifying rounds for both tournaments.
This decision was actually made on May 17th, so I'm unsure why it has taken the SFA almost 3 months to raise this issue with supporters and (pretend to) try to get some resolution about it.
The other reason UEFA will give us no assistance in moving the game is the very date itself. The August midweek slot is intended for friendlies. There are 12 *dedicated* qualifier dates, and our group only involves 8 games per team (i.e. 4 spare) - but we STILL chose to use a friendly date.
All in all, this simply highlights the poor planning undertaken when the fixture was made, and the poor organisational awareness shown when the alteration of the date was totally ignored in May.
This decision was actually made on May 17th, so I'm unsure why it has taken the SFA almost 3 months to raise this issue with supporters and (pretend to) try to get some resolution about it.
The other reason UEFA will give us no assistance in moving the game is the very date itself. The August midweek slot is intended for friendlies. There are 12 *dedicated* qualifier dates, and our group only involves 8 games per team (i.e. 4 spare) - but we STILL chose to use a friendly date.
All in all, this simply highlights the poor planning undertaken when the fixture was made, and the poor organisational awareness shown when the alteration of the date was totally ignored in May.
QUOTE (HibeeJibee @ Aug 27 2008, 15:06) 
Unless the Scotland Supporters Association are going to persuade UEFA to delay the entire UEFA Cup and Champions League by a week, then there is no resolution that can be achieved. Midweek of August 19th is allocated to the first leg of the final qualifying rounds for both tournaments.
This UEFA document contradicts what you have said by stating that third qualifying round the CL and the 4th qualifying round for the UC are the midweeks of 10-16 August and 24-30 of August with an International the midweek of 17-23 August.
Admittedly that document is dated November 2007 and things might have changed since then but it was the most up to date I could find.
Yes, as shown on the final page HERE:
http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/630630.pdf
However, as mentioned HERE:
http://kassiesa.com/uefaforum/view.php?arc...80527185358.xml
UEFA decided it would be better to have the international between rounds (to help with coherence and draw making - which it will TBF). They therefore applied to the May congress, and succeeded.
There was a news article on the FIFA site at the time of the Congress, mentioning the same thing.
http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/630630.pdf
However, as mentioned HERE:
http://kassiesa.com/uefaforum/view.php?arc...80527185358.xml
UEFA decided it would be better to have the international between rounds (to help with coherence and draw making - which it will TBF). They therefore applied to the May congress, and succeeded.
There was a news article on the FIFA site at the time of the Congress, mentioning the same thing.
In fact copying the quote from the second link into the FIFA web-page search box brought up:
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/b...sid=779200.html
where in the 3rd bullet point from the bottom we can see the relevant confirmation. That article is dated May 27th, and as I said the decision was made some time in the preceding 10 days. Which does make one wonder why it takes supporter forums, 3 months later, for the SFA to notice this...
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/b...sid=779200.html
where in the 3rd bullet point from the bottom we can see the relevant confirmation. That article is dated May 27th, and as I said the decision was made some time in the preceding 10 days. Which does make one wonder why it takes supporter forums, 3 months later, for the SFA to notice this...
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