This archive report was first published on 7 May 2020.
Published on May 7, 2020, by AFP.
Concacaf chief Victor Montagliani has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic will likely force changes to the region's qualifying competition for the 2022 World Cup.
Speaking to Canada's Onesoccer.com, Montagliani stated that the traditional 'Hexagonal' final round of qualifying may need to be scrapped under the reforms.
The 'Hexagonal' format, used in the 2018 World Cup qualifying, saw six teams compete in a home-and-away round-robin group, with the top three teams qualifying directly for the finals and the fourth-place team entering a playoff.
However, Montagliani believes that the global sporting shutdown caused by the pandemic will result in the loss of important FIFA international windows ahead of the 2022 World Cup, making reforms to the qualifying structure inevitable.
"I think on the balance of probabilities in terms of what has happened so far, and what likely will continue to happen, the current World Cup format will have to be changed," Montagliani said.
"Which means that ultimately the 'Hex' will have to be changed into some other form," he added.
While Montagliani did not provide details on the potential new format, he suggested that it would be larger and would likely involve the use of FIFA rankings to determine preliminary rounds.
