By Andrew Warshaw
October 29 – The global clamour for the 2022 World Cup to be switched to the winter to avoid Qatar’s stifling desert heat could be scuppered – by FIFA’s own regulations.
Ever since the tiny Gulf state’s upset victory over four other candidates in an often heated bidding contest, pressure has grown to take the unprecedented step of staging the tournament in winter, disrupting European fixture schedules but dodging sweltering mid-summer temperatures.
UEFA President Michel Platini is one of those leading the call for a November-December tournament but Qatar officials, who have continually faced unsubstantiated allegations of corruption, have repeatedly stated they would consider making the switch only if formally requested to do so by football’s world governing body.
insideworldfootball has learned, however, that any such move by FIFA could lead to a possible legal backlash from Qatar’s beaten 2022 rivals including the United States, the pre-ballot favourites, and Australia, who received only one vote.
The original bid registration tender documents, which ran to 66 pages and covered both the 2018 World Cup ballot, won emphatically by Russia, and the 2022 competition, expressly requested all bidding candidates to stage the tournament at the traditional time in June and/or July.
The crucial paragraphs, seen by insideworldfootball, read as follows:
“1.2 THE COMPETITIONS
The following FIFA competitions will be the subject of the Bidding Process governed by this Bid Registration:
1.2.1 FIFA WORLD CUP
The final competitions of the FIFA World Cup which are scheduled to take place as follows:
• The 21st edition in June and/or July of 2018 and
• The 22nd edition in June and/or July of 2022″
Sources close to the bid process say any attempt to alter these conditions could result in a legal challenge by any of the four losing 2022 candidates, which could justifiably argue that they spent money, time and energy on their campaigns under the impression that they were bidding to host the World Cup in summer – and only in summer.
Likewise, any bid to expand the tournament to include Qatar’s neighbouring Gulf states – another proposal championed by Platini – could also face legal problems on the basis that any new joint hosts were not party to the original bidding criteria.
One source close to the bidding procedure said: “In my opinion the only way the World Cup could be legally moved to November/December would be by declaring the previous vote null and void and reopening the bidding.”
That may partially explain why FIFA’s recently appointed corruption buster, Michael Garcia, is reportedly considering reviewing Qatar’s runaway 2022 victory to examine whether anything illegal or untoward took place during the contest.
The losing 2022 bidders have long been privately at a loss to explain how Qatar, half the size of Wales and with no footballing pedigree, managed to convince a large majority of FIFA’s top brass to vote for them in December 2010.
Qatar, by the same token, has consistently refuted any suggestion of malpractice in the bidding procedure, insisting its campaign was completely clean and broke no rules.
An emailed FIFA statement said: “The bidding agreement clearly stipulates that the final decision on the format and dates for both competitions is vested with the FIFA Organising Committee which may hear recommendations from the LOC.
“The event periods stipulated for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups are based on the traditional international match calendar.
“As it stands today, the 2022 FIFA World Cup is planned to be staged in Qatar in June/July 2022.
“Any potential change would have to be first requested by the competition organisers, i.e. Qatar, and then presented to the FIFA Executive Committee for analysis.”
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