We can't air condition the beaches and the streets in Qatar, warns Platini

By Andrew Warshaw

January 26 – UEFA President Michel Platini (pictured) has re-iterated his idea of playing the Qatar 2022 World Cup in several Gulf countries for the good of the entire area.

Two weeks ago, at a round-table media lunch at UEFA headquarters, Platini said the finals should be spread around the region, comments that immediately incurred the wrath of Mohammed Bin Hammam, President of the Asian Football Confederation and himself a Qatari native.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has joined the call for the tournament to be played in winter but has not yet backed Platini’s equally contentious suggestion of having several joint hosts.

But the Frenchman insists what he proposed was not some idle chit-chat but a serious and important issue to be debated.

“The best way to promote this competition is not to play it in 55 Celsius (131 Fahrenheit) degree heat,” Platini told l’Equipe.

“I’m in favour of playing it in winter and sharing out the matches among several Gulf countries.

“This would be good for the development of football in the region.”

Qatar are currently hosting the Asian Cup, the continent’s top international tournament comprising 16 teams.

Conditions have been good for football and Platini says Qatar’s idea of cooling stadiums when it comes to a summer World Cup simply will not work – even though he is widely understood to have voted for the tiny Middle East state in the first place.

“The stadiums will be air conditioned but the streets and the beaches won’t,” said Platini.

“When it’s 55 degrees no one goes out, while when it’s 30C degrees (86F), like in January, it’s different.

“For all football lovers, a winter World Cup in several Gulf countries would be ideal.

“I was in South Africa [for last year’s World Cup] and at five in the evening it was cold and already dark.

“In June/July 2022 in Qatar, it will be oppressively hot.”

Platini agreed that holding the World Cup in winter would mean a change to the international calendar, especially in Europe.

“It’s a complex problem,” he said.

“[But] we will know the dates of the tournament long enough in advance to decide to stop [domestic] football for a month or a month-and-a-half.

“Whether it be in January, in October or in March, we can do it.”

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