Scottish Premiership will shut down for month during Qatar World Cup

Scotland have reached the World Cup play-offs and could feature in Qatar

The SPFL has confirmed the Scottish Premiership will shut down for around a month next season in November and December to accommodate the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The final round of top-flight matches will be on the weekend of 27-28 May 2023, with the Premiership play-off finals on 1 and 4 June. The Scottish Cup final is likely to be on 3 June.

The League Cup final will take place on 26 February, with the semi-finals on 14 and 15 January. This will be a change from recent seasons when the competition was completed in the first half of the season. The group stages will start on 9 and 10 July.

There will be a busy festive spell of fixtures, with clubs playing five matches in 15 days between 24 December and 7 January, including on Christmas Eve and Hogmanay, which are both Saturdays.

The lower leagues will continue during the top-flight shutdown, playing a combination of league, Scottish Cup and Challenge Cup matches.

In recent seasons, Premiership clubs have taken a two-week break after the festive period but this season's interval was brought forward as a result of temporary Covid measures.

Scotland have reached the World Cup play-offs and face Ukraine in their semi-final on 24 March, with the final five days later.

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