• World Cup

FIFA confirm winter World Cup talks

ESPN staff
September 23, 2013
ESPN FC: Winter World Cup looking likely


FIFA will discuss the timing of the 2022 World Cup at the executive committee meeting at the start of next month, the governing body has confirmed.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter had said in July that he would ask the executive committee to discuss the prospect of a winter tournament due to the temperatures in Qatar over the summer.

The agenda for the meeting, which takes place on October 3 and 4, was released on FIFA.com on Monday and includes the item: "FIFA World Cup Qatar, period of the competition."

Blatter has already acknowledged in Die Zeit that the decision to host the World Cup in Qatar was the result of "direct political influence", and told insideworldfootball.com that "it may well be that we made a mistake" in selecting the Gulf state to stage a summer tournament.

The International Olympic Committee has also warned FIFA against creating a clash with that year's Olympic Winter Games.

Even so, Blatter has stressed that FIFA is within its rights to reschedule the World Cup and warned Football Federation Australia against attempting to claim compensation over its failed bid to stage the 2022 competition.

FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce has said European countries are now "certainly in agreement" that the tournament cannot be held in Qatar in the summer despite the inevitable disruption to domestic football across the continent.

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