São Paulo – The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has announced this Monday (8th) in a press statement this Monday (8th) that it is considering holding the 2022 World Cup, in Qatar, during winter and not summer, as had been previously decided. The information was disclosed following a meeting of FIFA executives and delegates from international football federations at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
According to the statement, the main purpose of the meeting this Monday was to discuss the schedule for football in the 2018-2024 period, but the Qatar World Cup was the main topic discussed. “Discussions centred around the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ in Qatar, and participants were presented with information on the implications of staging the event in winter as opposed to summer, as proposed by the FIFA Executive Committee,” the statement reads.
The document does not reveal why the alternative is being considered, but FIFA president Joseph Blatter had already said he would not alter the event’s dates due to summer heat in Qatar. Temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius in July in the country.
FIFA’s statement informs that other football calendar meetings will be held in the next few years. The next meeting is due November, and another meeting should take place in February 2015.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
