By Mark Baber
June 29 – The Spanish League (LFP) has filed an appeal regarding the playing dates for the 2022 World Cup, according to a spokesperson for the Court of Arbitration for Sport, although a date for the hearing has yet to be set.
The LFP is the first organisation to make a substantive legal challenge to the FIFA’s Executive Committee decision in March that the 2022 World Cup should be held in November and December, with final set for December 18, following on from the report of a FIFA Task Force which concluded a summer tournament was not viable due to the Qatari heat.
The switch in dates means in order to make way for the tournament European leagues would have to shut down in mid-season, which would cost the LFP €65 million according to independent reports submitted by Javier Tebas (pictured), president of the Spanish League.
In March FIFA rejected a proposal by European clubs and leagues to play in May-June. It can be expected that a number of other leagues and clubs are likely to support the Spanish action.
Tebas was quoted by Spanish media saying he had filed the lawsuit “in defence of the interests of the clubs that are contributing to the international teams.” According to Tebas leagues such as the English Premier League, the Bundesliga and Serie A all supported his move but had so far failed to put their signature on any lawsuits.
According to Tebas, “there is still a lot of fear of FIFA” but “nobody should be scared of filing a lawsuit in order to defend their legitimate rights.”
President of the French Football League, Frederic Thiriez has been quoted as saying the French League was “ready to support all the legal procedures that can be performed by the leagues against FIFA.”
Given the recent back-peddling on labour reform by the Qatari authorities, other legal challenges to holding a World Cup in Qatar seem inevitable.
It is worth noting that despite his bluster, Chairman of the English FA Greg Dyke recently deflected questions about the deaths of workers at the stadiums and a possible English boycott of the Qatar World Cup, telling Channel Four News: “Well, I’m not at all certain we will be going to Qatar, because what I think is interesting about the Belgian investigation, is that’s into the awarding of those two world cups. Not the Belgian, sorry the Swiss investigation.”
Asked about whether Qatar would happen, Dyke questioned: “Why would anybody in their right mind put a world cup in Qatar in August, which is what the original decision was. The Safety Group, which looked at the safety of that, recommended to FIFA not to do it, because it isn’t safe. They did it anyway. The question you have to ask is, “Why?””
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