The current U20 Women's World Cup is taking place in Poland right now, which began on September 5 and runs until September 27, with the final taking place in Łódź.

The tournament is already at the round-of-16 stage and all of Poland, Spain, Brazil, and North Korea's U20 sides have boasted perfect records from the group stages, all racking up nine points from three wins.

While the tournament has been a success thus far from a purely footballing perspective, there have been some concerns regarding the tournament's scheduling and how it does not currently align with the international competition calendar.

As a result, players representing their national teams for the U20 World Cup have had to deal with scheduling conflicts with their club teams and/or universities that they also play for.

This differs from senior international tournaments, which are scheduled within designated international windows.

Alex Morgan and Top Players Call for U20 World Cup Scheduling Change

A group of current and former women's players recently sent an open letter to FIFA to ask them to consider aligning the U20 Women's World Cup with the international calendar.

Among those involved in the letter were Alex Morgan, Marta, Lindsay Heaps and Crystal Dunn, all of whom have represented the United States Women's National Team.

The letter to FIFA states:

Align the U20 Women's World Cup with the international match calendar - better serving players, clubs, and the future of the women's game.<br><br>Young players should not have to choose between representing their country and meeting club commitments.<br><br>Aligning the tournament with designated windows will help ensure the world's best emerging talent can compete on the global stage.

As the scheduling is now for the Women's U20 World Cup, some clubs have been able to prevent players from joining their national teams for the tournament for key stretches of club matches.

Certain players have missed out on what's a massive opportunity to go to the U20 World Cup and potentially put themselves on the map in the eyes of senior squad members, who all pay close attention to the non-senior teams and tournaments.

Aligning the tournament with international match calendars would strengthen the requirement for clubs to release selected players to be able to participate in the competition, regardless of competing club commitments.

There's still the matter of a player's choice to go when they've been called up by their respective nation, but giving players the choice and the chance as best as possible is what matters.

FIFA Faces Growing Pressure Over the International Calendar

The letter drafted to FIFA comes not long after UEFA already had to temporarily back down from their boycott of the global governing body. They did not want to wind up in a position where their non-senior squad competitions would be jeopardized and/or have their member associations affected.

Principally, UEFA's hands were tied in that regard, though there is still a massive push from them, as well as other regions' governing bodies for FIFA president Gianni Infantino to step down and welcome desired changes. In an ironic sort of dynamic, UEFA has had to tiptoe their way around trying to hold Infantino and FIFA accountable to protect their youth competitions and member associations, and in this case, the U20 Women's World Cup.

Hopefully for the women's game, something comes of the letter to FIFA and necessary scheduling changes are made, at the very least.

A scheduling system that can prevent eligible young players from competing on the global stage deserves further consideration.