FIFA likely to delay decision on 2022 WC dates

FIFA president Joseph Blatter and his 27-strong executive committee will decide the 2022 World Cup dates. (AFP)

Reuters/London

Despite widespread speculation that FIFA will vote to switch the dates of the 2022 World Cup on Friday, soccer’s world governing body will probably delay making a decision and instead set up a task force to analyse the huge implications of moving the tournament from the searing heat of the Middle East summer.

Although the executive committee could agree in principle to move the dates of the World Cup, FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce told Reuters it should not rush into a decision and he wanted a task force set up to examine the issue.

“We will discuss when the World Cup will be held (and) we will also consider the plight of immigrant workers in Qatar whose harsh living and working conditions made headlines last week,” he said.

Thomas Bach, the new president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said he doubted the World Cup would clash with the Winter Olympics in 2022, if the finals were moved from their traditional June and July dates, adding that FIFA was likely to opt for November 2022, if it switched.

In a development related to the vexed situation regarding the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 finals to Qatar on the same day in December 2010, Michael Garcia, the head of the investigative unit of FIFA ethics committee, will tour all the countries involved in the bidding processes, he was quoted as saying in France Football yesterday.

Boyce, who joined the executive committee six months after the vote was taken, told Reuters in a telephone interview from his home in Belfast: “I don’t think there is any possibility of a decision being taken about moving the World Cup this week.

“What should happen next is that all the stakeholders, the major clubs from around the world, the major leagues, TV rights holders, sponsors, everyone needs to get around the table and have their say.

“Although UEFA’s 54 members have agreed it would be best to move the World Cup away from the summer, all the implications need to be studied in detail.

“And don’t forget, we don’t need to rush into this. The World Cup is still nine years away, we have plenty of time.”

While FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his 27-strong executive committee struggle with the problem of when to stage the World Cup, the political implications of any decision they subsequently make will have far-reaching consequences.

Bach, who was elected IOC president last month, told the BBC he was not worried about a clash with the Winter Games.

“So far we have heard a proposal from the FIFA president to have it in November 2022, and there would be no clash whatsoever. We will now see how the discussions go.

“We are confident that in the mutual interest there will be a good solution for both big events and no clash with the dates.”

The Winter Olympics are traditionally held in February, and sometimes the final days of January. The 2022 hosts will be chosen by the IOC in July 2015.

Qatar says it can host the World Cup in summer by building air-conditioned stadiums using environmentally-friendly technology and is reluctant to change the dates from June or July.

Last month the powerful European Clubs Association (ECA), which has more than 200 members, urged FIFA not to rush into a decision, saying there were still nine years to go and they wanted to be included in any proposed task force.