Updated Thursday, July 18th 2013 at 15:37 GMT +3 Fifa president Sepp Blatter is determined to switch the 2022 World Cup to the winter because of the intense Qatar summer heat.
The head of world football's governing body is planning discussions over the change with his executive committee.
Blatter said: "The executive committee will certainly follow my proposal. Then we will have dealt with it for good."
Blatter will hold talks with Fifa's executive committee in October after medical evidence highlighted the dangers of playing games in temperatures that average 40C in June and can reach 50C.
The heat dips to an average of 20C during the winter months.
The host nation is planning to play games in air-conditioned stadiums, but Blatter said: "The Fifa World Cup must be a festival of the people, but, for it to be such a festival, you can't play football in the summer.
"You can cool down the stadiums, but you can't cool down the whole country and you can't simply cool down the ambience of a World Cup.
"The players must be able to play in the best conditions to play a good World Cup."
Moving the World Cup to the winter would significantly impact on the European leagues.
Blatter insists it would only affect one season, but the Premier League fear fixtures could be disrupted across Europe for three seasons
"The Premier League's view remains unchanged," a spokesman said. "We are opposed to the concept of a winter World Cup for very obvious practical reasons that would impact on all of European domestic football."
No comments:
Post a Comment