Sepp Blatter

[simplythebest 11,453]

Sepp Blatter has confirmed that he will ask the FIFA executive committee to move the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the winter, insisting: "Where there's a will, there's a way."

Temperatures in the Gulf state can reach 50°C (122°F) during the summer, and FIFA president Blatter told L'Equipe in May that it is "not rational and reasonable to play in June and July".

UEFA president Michel Platini and Qatar 2022 World Cup committee secretary general Hassan Al Thawadi are among those who believe holding the tournament in the winter is the best solution.

Speaking in Austria on Wednesday, Blatter said: "There is still enough time. I will bring this up to the executive committee.

"If this World Cup is to become a party for the people, you can't play football in the summer. You can cool down the stadiums, but you can't cool down the whole country."

Concerns have been raised about the impact a winter World Cup would have on domestic leagues around Europe, with the Qatar tournament threatening to disrupt schedules for three seasons.

Bundesliga chief executive Christian Seifert said in May: "I'm not sure of the credibility of FIFA. It shows me FIFA, as a body which says what's good for the game, ignores completely the day-by-day basis in those leagues who are effectively the core and the heart of football - not the tournament that comes up every four years."

Questions have also been raised as to whether the switch would be legitimate, given that Qatar had bid on the basis of holding a summer tournament.

David Bernstein, who as FA chairman had backed England's bid to host the 2018 tournament, said last month: "My personal view is that it would be a case of a false prospectus if the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was switched to the winter. It is a serious matter bidding for the World Cup, and countries including ourselves spent huge amounts of money bidding for the tournament."

He added: "The bid was for the World Cup to be played in June and July, and for it then to be moved to the winter would be fundamentally flawed. If people want it in the winter, they should bid for it on that basis. To try and get it through the back door like this is absolutely flawed."

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/222229.html

No shit sherlock...

And were they thinking of all this when they decided to organise a World Cup in the desert?

[harlands plater 17,077]

A few brown envelopes should iron out any problems.

[The Educator 1,572]

A few brown envelopes should iron out any problems.

Don't you mean a few more brown envelopes should iron out any problems. Many suspect that a few of these made the rounds to ensure the tournament was awarded in the first place. Could the winter idea be a way to avoid having to pass the said envelopes back as the sane thing to do would be to re-ballot for the awarding of the tournament to a place with a more hospitable environment to playing football?

[King Jela 20,929]

Danny Devito lookalike.

[ScottBF2 3,540]

Interesting that none of these issues came up during the voting process. I guess now it's "far too late" to consider moving the World Cup to a new host as well?

[Raligt 2,541]

That World Cup will be a disaster. Fuck Qatar

[miracle 7,846]

Fifa president Sepp Blatter is determined to switch the 2022 World Cup to the winter because of the intense Qatar summer heat.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23351824

What an absolute train wreck.

[Raligt 2,541]

I don't see clubs going to be happy with this move.

[johanhentze 14,449]

Fucking farce. Someone made a lot of money on this..

[DAVIDATDI 22]

Not going to happen Seppy