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FIFA to shorten Qatar World Cup as winter dates backed

ESPN staff
February 24, 2015
Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup in 2010 © Getty Images
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The 2022 World Cup in Qatar should be shortened and staged in November and December, a FIFA task force has recommended.

Insiders object

  • Premier League chief Richard Scudamore says he feels "let down" by UEFA, European football's governing body, which has accepted a switch to a winter World Cup.
  • Scudamore, a member of the FIFA task force that made the proposal to play the Qatar 2022 tournament in November-December, is reported to have said there was "no real discussion" at the Doha meeting at which the recommendation was backed.
  • "Very disappointed - that's the word, I think, on behalf of all the European leagues and particularly the European clubs who provide most of the players for this World Cup," Scudamore said.
  • He reportedly added: "It looks like nobody else is giving much up, even UEFA, who have let us down a little. The Champions League can start and carry on as always."
  • Meanwhile, Britain's FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce has voiced his opposition to a potential December 23 final.
  • He told PA Sport: "I would like it a week earlier, but I want to wait until the FIFA executive committee meeting to hear all the details about the dates.
  • "I welcome the fact all the stakeholders have been involved, although this is not going to please everyone. It will cause a lot of disruption - but it is eight years away, and people should have enough time to make it work."

The proposal had been widely expected after the task force, led by Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, ruled out the possibility of playing the tournament in May and said a clash with the Winter Olympics, held in January, would be undesirable.

"Some people have concerns, but whatever decision you're going to take will have some questions about it," Sheikh Salman. "But we need to look at the overall benefit of everybody."

A FIFA statement read: "The outcome of the discussions is also a proposed reduced competition days schedule with the exact dates to be defined in line with the match schedule and number of venues to be used for the 22nd edition of football's flagship event.

"The proposed event dates have the full support of all six confederations. The proposal will be discussed at the next meeting of the FIFA executive committee, scheduled to take place at the Home of FIFA in Zurich on March 19 and 20, 2015."

There are no plans to reduce the size of the tournament from 32 teams or 64 matches, but the tournament would be shortened by a matter of days.

If ratified in Zurich in March, the recommendations will set Fifa on a collision course with major European leagues who prefer an April-May option to minimise disruption to their lucrative domestic programmes.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
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