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A model of its Al-Gharafa stadium,
as the host of the 2022 World Cup, in Doha, Qatar. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)
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FIFA task force on Tuesday recommended playing the 2022 World Cup in
November-December to avoid the summer heat in Qatar. FIFA
said the task force chose the "most viable period" over other
proposals to play in January, April or May, dates favored mostly by European
soccer. FIFA also said the tournament should be shorter than the current 32-day
schedule.
The
plan must be approved by the FIFA executive committee, chaired by President
Sepp Blatter, at a March 19-20 meeting in Zurich.
AP reports Blatter,
who is an IOC member, has long favored November-December to avoid clashing with
the Winter Olympics, scheduled for February 2022.
"Given
that the two bidding cities for the 2022 Winter Olympics — Almaty (Kazakhstan)
and Beijing (China) — pledged recently to host the winter games from Feb. 4-20,
2022; that the month of Ramadan begins on April 2 in 2022; and that
consistently hot conditions prevail from May to September in Qatar, the only
remaining effective option is the November-December window," FIFA said in
a statement.
European
clubs and leagues oppose FIFA's proposal, which shuts them down for several
weeks in mid-season. The
FIFA executive committee chose Qatar as host in December 2010, when the
gas-rich emirate won a five-nation bidding contest to host the tournament in
the traditional June-July slot.
Tuesday's
recommendation comes 17 months after the FIFA board — minus several members who
have left since the hosting vote after being implicated in corruption — ordered
a consultation on finding the best dates in Qatar.
The FIFA-organized Club World Cup, which is
traditionally played in December, could be staged in Qatar in 2021 as a World
Cup test event, FIFA said.
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