TENAFLY, N.J. (September 23, 2021) -- The South American World Cup qualifying marathon isset for its second series of three games over eight days in Rounds 11, 5 (games rescheduledfrom last March 30) and 12 in October and Integrated Sports Media, the leader in pay-per-view soccer matches, has got the games covered for you.
Integrated Sports will offer matches on cable and satellite Pay Per View and to commercialestablishments across the U.S. The matches, which cost $29.95 each, also continue to beavailable on cable via iN Demand along with satellite providers DIRECTV and DISH.
Eight of the 10 nations involved in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have playednine matches (the Brazil-Argentina match on Sept. 5 was abandoned) because games havebeen postponed several times because of the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged partsof the South American continent. In addition, in March European clubs declined to releaseplayers for qualifiers because of the danger of contracting the virus while traveling interna-tionally. Now, however, FIFA has ended those temporary exclusion rules and will requireclubs to release players for international duty.
To compensate for the postponements, CONMEBOL, the regional governing body, decided
to play the qualifiers in September and October on triple matchdays, which were approved byFIFA. In all, South American nations and players could be asked to play a dozen internationalmatches over the next seven months -- in addition to their global club commitments.
The round-robin qualifying tournament calls on each nation to play home and away againstnine opponents for a total of 18 matches, which will send the top four qualifiers to Qatar witha fifth nation involved in an intercontinental playoff.
Because of the delays and postponements, qualifying in South America will spill over intoMarch 2022, with the World Cup finals slated to begin in the Middle Eastern nation in lateNovember. The tournament will run from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18, 2022.
The September series of games for the frontrunners -- Brazil and Argentina -- did nothingto make anyone think the two powerhouses will not be in Qatar in November 2022. Brazil’srecord remained perfect (8-0-0, 24 points) as it opened a 6-point lead over Argentina. Inaddition, Brazil set a CONMEBOL record in qualifying by notching its sixth straight shutout.Argentina bossed Bolivia to the tune of 3-0 with Lionel Messi getting all the goals andbreaking Pelé’s scoring record in South American internationals.
Uruguay, playing without its stars Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani, grabbed 7 of a possible
9 points in the three matches, dropping points to only Perú in a 1-1 draw. La Celeste movedup to third place, two points ahead of Ecuador. Ecuador and Colombia are tied on points, eachwith 13, in the battle for the fourth automatic qualification spot. Colombia took 5 points fromthe three games, earring away draws in Bolivia and Paraguay, then beating Chile at home. Thefour nations at the bottom of the table -- Perú, Chile, Bolivia and Venezuela -- would all needto run the table in the next three games, no easy task, to have any chance of qualifying.
The Pay-Per-View schedule for Rounds 11, 5 and 12 follows (Home teams listed first;all times Eastern):
Thursday, Oct. 7
Paraguay v. Argentina, 7 p.m.
Uruguay v. Colombia, 7 p.m.
Venezuela v. Brazil, 7:30 p.m.
Ecuador v. Bolivia, 8:30 p.m.
Peru v. Chile, 9 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 10
Bolivia v. Peru, 4 p.m.
Venezuela v. Ecuador, 4:30 p.m.
Colombia v. Brazil, 5 p.m.
Argentina v. Uruguay, 7:30 p.m.
Chile v. Paraguay, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 14
Bolivia v. Paraguay, 4 p.m.
Colombia v. Ecuador, 5 p.m.
Argentina v. Peru, 7:30 p.m.
Chile v. Venezuela, 8 p.m.
Brazil v. Uruguay, 8:30 p.m.
About Integrated Sports Media:
North America’s leading distributor of International Pay-Per-View and Closed-Circuit sportsevents has presented World Championship and world-class boxing matches featuringEvander Holyfield, Roy Jones, Jr., Ricky Hatton, Ivan Calderon, Rocky Martinez, Nicolai Valuev,Amir Kahn, Marco Antonio Barrera, Arthur Abraham, David Haye, John Ruiz, and Juan ManuelLopez. In addition, Integrated Sports Media has distributed numerous international soccermatches showcasing the National Teams of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, andthe USA, as well as World Championship and world-class mixed martial arts events featuringFedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Bobby Lashley, Bob Sapp, Jeff Monson, and Roy Nelson. Formore information on upcoming Integrated Sports events visit www.integratedsportsnet.com.
Contact:
Doug Jacobs
doug@Integratedsportsnet.com
Office: 201-610-1500
Cell: 201-362-8151
