FA celebrates old rule book, Dyke still wants new thinking on Winter 2022

Dyke and Hodgson

By Andrew Warshaw
August 22 – English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has again reiterated his preference for a winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Dyke, who succeeded David Bernstein earlier this summer, has already clashed with the Premier League which is leading the campaign to keep the tournament in June and July.

But he is clearly not in the mood to give ground. “There’s two choices: you either move it to another country or to another time of the year,” Dyke told Sky. “Anyone who has been would know you can’t play football at that time of the year. You might be able to play football in the stadia but, for the fans, how can you wander around in those kind of temperatures?”

Dyke was speaking whilst attending a ceremonial presentation at the British Library of the Football Association’s Minute Book in which the original laws of the game were set down. The 1863 handwritten manuscript is valued at £2.5 million and its display forms part of this year’s 150th FA anniversary celebrations.

Compiled 150 years ago by Ebenezer Cobb Morley, it contains the 13 original laws of football and will be on display alongside some of the most famous documents in history, including the 1215 Magna Carta,

Accompanied by England manager Roy Hodgson, Dyke said: “The importance of the 1863 FA Minute Book cannot be underestimated. Without it, quite simply, the world would be without its most popular sport.” From Andrew Warshaw

English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has yet again reiterated his preference for a winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

Dyke, who succeeded David Bernstein earlier this summer, has already clashed with the Premier League which is leading the campaign to keep the tournament in June and July.

But he is clearly not in the mood to give ground. “There’s two choices: you either move it to another country or to another time of the year,” Dyke told Sky. “Anyone who has been would know you can’t play football at that time of the year. You might be able to play football in the stadia but, for the fans, how can you wander around in those kind of temperatures?”

Dyke was speaking whilst attending a ceremonial presentation at the British Library of the Football Association’s Minute Book in which the original laws of the game were set down. The 1863 handwritten manuscript is valued at £2.5m and its display forms part of this year’s 150th FA anniversary celebrations.

Compiled 150 years ago by Ebenezer Cobb Morley, it contains the 13 original laws of football and will be on display alongside some of the most famous documents in history, including the 1215 Magna Carta, regarded as the cornerstone of English civil liberties.

Accompanied by England manager Roy Hodgson, Dyke said: “The importance of the 1863 FA Minute Book cannot be underestimated. Without it, quite simply, the world would be without its most popular sport.”

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