The chairman of the FIFAโs medical committee says the 2022 World Cup in Qatar must be played in the winter.
Medical committee chairman Michel DโHooghe will advise FIFA that the extreme heat of the Qatari summer poses too great a risk to supporters.
โThe World Cup is about more than games and players,โ said DโHooghe. โIย am sure the Qataris have the technical skill to organize a tournament where teams could play and train in a stable, acceptable temperature, but itโs about the fans.
โThey will need to travel from venue to venue and I think itโs not a good idea for them to do that in temperatures of 47C or more.โ
The topic of when the 2022 World Cup will be played remains one of great debate.
DโHoogheโs opinion mirrors that of FIFAย President Sepp Blatter, who is determined to switch the date of the tournament from summer to winter and will be submitting a proposal to FIFAโsย executive committee in October. Blatter has rejected the idea that air conditioned stadiums is enough to combat the extreme heat, noting that โyou can cool down the stadiums, but you canโt cool down the whole country and you canโt simply cool down the ambience of a World Cup.โ
Major dissenters of the switchย include the Premier League, for the major impact that a wintertime World Cup would have on the English domestic season.ย Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore is adamant that the tournament go forward in the summer. โThe bid was extremely thorough, they dealt with all the issues about the heat and the managing of the air conditioning in the stadiums,โ Scudamore said. โMy view is you can do it in the summer. You can do it there.โ
The vote as to whether to move the date of the World Cup is set to go forward at the next executive committee meeting on October 3rd.ย Sunil Gulati, one of 25 people on FIFAโs executive committee, opposes the vote altogether saying โI donโt see at this stage, frankly, how I or any member of FIFAโs executive committee could make a sensible decision.โ
For now, however, that vote appears to be going forward. Early indications are that DโHoogheโs opinion will be given weight asย theย executive committee is expected to agree in principle on the winter move before embarking on a starting a six-month exercise to work out how it will affect the international calendar and domestic leagues.
