League One and League Two to play through 2022 World Cup, but the Championship will only have the group stage off

But with teams still able to postpone matches because of international call-ups as usual, there is still the possibility of a backlog of fixtures for some clubs.

The next Football League season will start in July to accommodate the controversial Qatar tournament, which kicks off on November 21, 2022. Countries can only demand their players from 14th, two days after the Championship goes on hold after 16 matches per club.

The group stages are due to conclude on December 2, with Championship football resuming on the 10th.

No Premier League matches will be played until eight days after the final, which is on December 18.

Rotherham United manager Paul Warne, whose club is currently in League One but is hoping to be in the Championship by next winter, recently told The Yorkshire Post he thought all Football League games should be postponed during the competition for fairness.

Instead, the League is just relying on its normal caveat that "The existing international calls postponement criteria will be applied throughout, where necessary."

That means any team with three players on international duty (ie in Qatar) will have the option to postpone games if they wish, although they do not have to. League One Rotherham and Doncaster Rovers are yet to play during any of this season's international breaks, but Sheffield Wednesday only sat out the first one, having not had sufficient call-ups since.

The vote for who should host the 2022 competition was cast for Qatar before it was decided it would not be able to host games during the summer because of the oppressive temperatures.

The regular Football League season is scheduled to finish on the weekend of May 6/7, with the play-off finals in their usual bank holiday weekend slot at the end

The League Cup first round will be played in the week beginning August 8, with the final at Wembley on February 26.

The Football League Trophy runs from the week commencing August 29 to the March 19 final, also at the national stadium.