Football leagues around the world are kicking off early this year to accommodate the world’s first winter World Cup.

In 2010, Qatar made waves after winning the bid to host the World Cup. However, the desert climate of the Gulf state forced FIFA to shift the global tournament from its traditional summer schedule to winter for the first time in its history.

This decision triggered major changes to several of this year’s biggest football leagues around the world, including the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and the UEFA Champions League.

Premier League 2022-23

The 2022-23 season of the Premier League is set to start on 6 August, a week earlier than the 2021-22 campaign. The tournament will break during the weekend of 12 November to allow players partaking in the World Cup to join their national teams.

The season will resume on 26 December, eight days after the World Cup final, and will end on 28 May next year.

La Liga 2022-23

The Spanish football league’s 2022-23 season will start on Friday 12 August and will halt on 12 November. Unlike the Premier League, no matches will be played over the Christmas holiday, and instead, games will pick back up on 31 December.

The season will end in June 2023, in the second such instance in the league’s history.

Bundesliga 2022-23

Set to start on 5 August, the German tournament will also break on 12 November, weeks ahead of the World Cup.

Germany will allow its players to rest after the World Cup, with the season schedule to commence again on 21 January and end on 27 May.

Serie A 2022-23

13 August will be the debut of the Serie A season. The league will pause on 13 November and resume a few days after New Year on 4 January.

The season will end on 4 June next year.

UEFA Champions League 2022-23

In the midst of finishing the qualifying rounds, the UEFA Champions League was shortened by two months this year. The competitive tournament will suspend on 2 November after the group stages.

Round of 16 will begin on 14 February and the final will take place on Saturday 10 June in Istanbul, Turkey.