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Third and fourth round replays in FA Cup scrapped

In a bid to ease fixture congestion, the FA Cup third and fourth-round replays have been scrapped in an attempt to help clubs sort out fixture congestion after an incident of recent that saw postponements of various matches due to COVID-19 pandemic.

FA Cup

According to FA, any third or fourth round ties level after the final minutes will now go directly to extra time and penalties.

This decision to scrap off replays which was first reported by The Daily Mail, follows last year's incident when replays were scrapped due to the football season being heavily packed with matches.

The FA Cup third round is due to take place across January 7-10, 2022 and the fourth round will take place on the weekend of February 5th and 6th.

The FA released a statement yesterday evening which said, “We can today confirm that replays have been removed in both the third and fourth rounds of the 2021-22 Emirates FA Cup.

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“This exceptional decision was approved by the FA Board on Friday 17 December and has been taken in the wider interest of English football to alleviate the possibility of fixture congestion following several postponements in recent days and continued uncertainty ahead due to COVID-19.”

FA adds that ties in the third and fourth rounds of this season’s competition will be played to a finish on the day, with extra-time and penalty shootouts if required.

“Replays will return including the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup from the 2022-23 season onwards.”

Yesterday, the Premier League executives staged a virtual meeting via Zoom after the weekend’s fixture list had been disorganized by several outbreaks of COVID-19, with clubs deciding to play on throughout the festive.

Clubs were set to debate whether or not to postpone an entire round of festive fixtures but it is understood a large majority of clubs wish to continue with the league.

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Clubs like Liverpool, supported moving one round of fixtures and it is understood that they were not the only side to speak up in favor of the idea.

Six of the 10 Premier League matches were called off last weekend because a number of clubs registered a spike in COVID-19 cases, leaving them unable to complete fixtures.

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