Kickbacks are an FA Cup tradition. A knockout game ending in a draw after 90 minutes? After that, the away team only won the right to hold the rematch at a later date.
COVID-19 is delaying that tradition, at least for a few rounds between 2021-2022.
With the omicron COVID-19 variant causing fixture chaos across England, forcing clubs to postpone and leaving clubs to fit more matches in a shorter amount of time, The English Football Association, which hosts the FA Cup, has decided to scrap replays starting from Round Three so as not to further stress the schedule.
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What if FA Cup matches end in a draw?
The English Football Federation (FA) announced At the end of December 2021, the replays of Round 3 and Round 4 will be dropped for this year’s competition, to avoid further straining the English schedule.
Instead, extra time and penalty shootouts (if necessary) will be used to determine the winner of those matches, giving the club a decisive advantage in the draw to host the knockout match.
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There were 13 replays in the first and second rounds of the competition involving lower-tier clubs. But with the FA’s decision, there will be no replays for the rest of the tournament from round 5 (March 16, 2), quarter-finals (March 19-20), semi-finals (March 23-24), 4) and the final (May). 14) has been replayed for free for the past few years.
Replays for the semi-finals were made beginning in 1999-2000, and since the 2007-2008 season, the semi-finals have been played on consecutive weekends at London’s Wembley Stadium. . In 2016-2017 quarterfinal rematches were also made and a year later, the fifth round replays were glitched.
The FA announcement makes it clear that replays will return for the 2022-2023 competition from the first to the fourth round, although any lingering effects of COVID-19 could clearly lead to a viewing Consider a similar move.
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“This particular decision was approved by the FA Council on Friday 17 December and has been taken in the wider interest of English football to ease the possibility of a fixture gridlock following numerous postponements in the Premier League. recent days and continued uncertainty ahead due to COVID-19,” the FA statement read.
total 17 Premier League matches have been postponed, while many others in English football’s top four divisions have been pushed. The EFL Cup (Carabao Cup) was also affected, with the Liverpool-Arsenal series being rescheduled. Each match was set aside for COVID-19 issues leaving another needed to fit the later schedule, raising concerns about the number of games being put together in a short period of time. .
What is an FA Cup replay?
Unique in the FA Cup is the replay concept.
In most knockout tournaments around the world, a winner is required to be determined after each match, as one team must be eliminated and one team must advance. Extra time and, if necessary, penalty kicks are often used to break ties after 90 minutes. However, some leagues around the world switched to penalty kicks.
In the FA Cup, historically, things have played out a little differently. In the event of a tie after 90 minutes in Round 1 to Round 4, the match will be over and the match is scheduled to be replayed at the away team’s home ground at a later date, when the two teams will play. Play another 90 minutes. If that match also ends in a draw, only then will extra time and penalties be awarded.
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This concept, which has existed since the competition began in 1871, was initially valid for all rounds, including the final. As recently as the 1990s, there were no penalty shootouts in the competition, meaning teams would play as many turns as needed to determine the winner. The FA Cup Final was last replayed in 1993.
After eliminating the replays for the semi-finals in 1999-2000, the competition organizers then also made it for the quarter-finals starting in 2016-17 and then for the fifth round (Round 16) 2018, citing fixed congestion. That leaves replays only in the event of a Round 1 to Round 4 relationship. These replays have the potential to benefit lower tier clubs that could benefit financially as a result. Play the second game against the top opponent.
Premier League clubs enter the competition in Round 3, so there are usually only two rounds where Premier League clubs could theoretically be forced to replay (Round 3-4) although that wouldn’t occurs in 2021-22 due to FA Decision.
