By Andrew Warshaw
September 9 – FIFA have revived the possibility of the 2022 Qatar World Cup being staged in January if it is switched to winter, putting it on a direct collision course with the winter Olympics. The first meeting of the multi-stakeholder Task Force set up to decide once and for all when to stage the tournament discussed three possible time frames, including January/February, even though FIFA president Sepp Blatter has previously ruled that out.
Qatar was originally awarded the World Cup on the understanding that it would be staged in the summer despite the searing heat. But ever since then, despite revolutionary planned cooling techniques for stadiums, training areas and fan zones, there has been concern over the health of players and supporters.
“Participants were presented with information on the implications of staging the event in winter as opposed to summer, as proposed by the FIFA executive committee,” FIFA said in a statement following the inaugural Task Force meeting at FIFA HQ in Zurich.
“FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke clarified that, based on the hosting agreement, the FIFA World Cup must be held in 2022. The options of January/February 2022 and November/December 2022 were put forward as alternatives to June/July 2022, and initial feedback received.”
Any clash with the winter Olympics would not go down well with broadcasters, especially in the United States, and last November Blatter said there “no way” that would happen. “We have to see how we can have the FIFA World Cup played in winter, but only Nov/Dec are possible,” he told a news conference in Abu Dhabi.
Monday’s Task Force meeting, chaired by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, included representatives from European clubs, leagues and the world players’ union FIFPro as well as national association representatives.
“As the FIFA executive committee has emphasised, the consultation process should not be rushed but instead be given the necessary time to consider all of the elements relevant for a decision,” Sheikh Salman said afterwards. “We have made progress at today’s meeting and will continue to work together to find the best solution for football.”
FIFA confirmed it will be at least February 2015 before any final decision on a date is made. That would still give Qatar the usual seven years to prepare for the tournament.
The Task Force was set up to study all the options after a raft of stakeholders complained about lack of consultation since any switch to winter would be disruptive to scheduling across the world.
Moving the tournament to November/December remains the most likely option. The task force will meet again in two months, with each of the stakeholder groups asked to provide detailed information on how the different proposed dates will impact their relevant competitions.
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