Exception in European Championship qualification: Kosovo against Israel outside the stand-off period

Quote from TheBosnator

Here you can see once again that the (football) calendar is simply too crowded. There are hardly any alternatives if international games have to be canceled for any reason. In the end, there are mostly only losers in such a situation.

Regardless, I find this decision really difficult. After all, both Israel and Kosovo are still playing for a ticket for direct qualification. Of course, the chances are very, very low, especially in Kosovo. However, they are clearly at a disadvantage here compared to Israel, as the Israeli league is significantly higher than the Kosovo league and the difference in quality becomes even clearer, as practically only players from the domestic league will be on the pitch.
This means that Kosovo is deprived of a fair chance of maintaining its minimal chance of direct qualification through a possible win against Israel.

I agree with you that the schedule is full, and I fear it will become even more crowded in the future.

As far as the “disadvantage” of Kosovo is concerned, I see the matter a little differently. Kosovo would have to win all three remaining games, and Switzerland should probably only get one point from three games, and Israel should get a maximum of five points from four games. Kosovo’s theoretical chances of qualifying in the group are probably less than one percent, so we shouldn’t act like that now (the association probably doesn’t either), and it would be better to show solidarity with the really disadvantaged nation. Hopefully, given the current situation, you shouldn’t have to explain to anyone that this is Israel.

As far as Israel’s chances of qualifying are concerned, things obviously won’t get any easier now. Four games in a very short space of time, and you’re already in the role of pursuer in terms of sport. Of course, you also have to ask whether the players can actually concentrate on their sport at the moment. But let’s be honest, there are more important things than football at the moment.

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