By Andrew Warshaw
January 26 – Any doubts about the 2022 World Cup in Qatar being staged in winter look to have been swept away, with November-December now the clear favourite in a move that will break with decades of tradition.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who heads the FIFA task force charged with investigating potential dates, says “the matter is resolved” to play in winter in order to avoid the searing desert heat.
Significantly, next month’s session of the Task Force, expected to be the last before a final announcement on dates is made by the FIFA executive committee in March, is being staged in the Qatari capital of Doha rather than at FIFA headquarters in Zurich. A FIFA spokesman has already confirmed that the reason Doha had been chosen for the February 23 session was so “they can meet on-site and gain first-hand experience”.
“The period best suited for hosting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be in November and December because for sure it needs to be played in the winter,” Salman told reporters on the fringes of the Asian Cup in Australia, adding his working group had decided that a winter World Cup was in the best interests of all parties. “The matter is resolved,” he was quoted as saying.
The other winter period that has long been considered for the Qatar tournament is January-February but FIFA have been constantly reminded of the dangers of a potential clash the winter Olympics.
Salman’s apparent pre-empting of a final ruling will infuriate Europe’s clubs and leagues who have devised a last-ditch strategy for keeping the tournament close to its traditional summer time slot in order to avoid the disruption that a winter tournament would cause to much of the global playing calendar.
The European Club Association (ECA) and the European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), who are expected to be represented at next month’s Task Force session comprising most of the game’s main stakeholders, want FIFA to consider late May and early June. But Salman’s latest comments would appear to scupper this and end a debate that has been going on ever since Qatar were awarded the tournament just over four years ago.
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