The Premier League season kicked off last weekend, with this set to be somewhat of a unique campaign.
While supporters could normally look forward to nine months of essentially uninterrupted club football, the looming prospect of a winter World Cup means that this will be a very different season.
There will be a long break in the division in November, with a six-week taking place before the clubs return for the traditional festive fixture schedule.
It will add a new dynamic to the campaign and it will be interesting to see what clubs cope better with the vastly different schedule.
Gary Neville says Qatar entitled to host winter World Cup
The decision to host the tournament in Qatar has proven to be a massively contentious one for a number of reasons. It was originally said that the event would be held in the summer with the aid of air-conditioned stadiums to help battle the heat, although this plan was quickly abandoned.
The human rights issues related to the building of stadiums has also rightly been heavily criticised.
In relation to the timing of the tournament, Gary Neville believes that countries in this region should be entitled to host it at a later time of year.
Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, the Sky Sports pundit said that we are likely to see winter World Cups repeated in the future as FIFA spreads the tournament around the globe.
I said this eight to ten years ago when Qatar were awarded the World Cup.
If we're really being fair, forget the way it was awarded and forget which country has got it, the World Cup should be hosted over each continent fairly over the course of 20 or 30 years.
In 20 or 24 years time, there should be another World Cup in the Middle East. You cannot play football in the Middle East in the middle of summer...
You go to Qatar in the middle of summer in 40 or 42 degree heat, you've got players in a whole lot of trouble. Not just that, you've got fans in a whole heap of trouble...
Every 24 years, we're going to have disruption in the season if it's fair. FIFA made his big mistake of saying it was going to be a summer World Cup with these air-conditioned stadiums.
I never thought that could happen. I've been going to the Middle East since about 2002 on a regular basis, you cannot play football with that heat and humidity, it is dangerous.
Every 24 years, we are going to have this. This is the first time it has happened, first time a muslim country has hosted the World Cup. Let's get our head around it that this is something we're going to have to get used to.
Qatar are the first country in the Middle East to host the World Cup, but it is highly likely that it will return to the region in the future.
The 2026 edition will take place in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, while the Spain and Portugal favourites to host to 2030 tournament.
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