RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 7 — Europe’s top football clubs are challenging a claim by FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke that the sport’s governing body and teams are getting closer to a decision on rescheduling the 2022 World Cup to winter.
FIFA wants to change the dates for the tournament because temperatures in Qatar can rise above 50° Celsius in June, when the event usually starts. Representatives of clubs, leagues and national and regional federations met at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters last week to discuss the situation.
A World Cup starting in January was the most popular at the meeting, according to three people familiar with the matter. Only Asia, Africa and Oceania, the smallest of FIFA’s six regional bodies, were prepared to back FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s preference of a November-December tournament, according to one of the people, who requested anonymity because the information is private.
“We were surprised by FIFA’s media release issued following the meeting, which in our opinion did not correctly reflect the discussions,” the European Club Association, an umbrella body for more than 200 teams, said two days ago in an e-mailed statement.
The group, represented at the meeting in Zurich by AC Milan Director Umberto Gandini and General Secretary Michele Centenaro, suggested a start date of April 28 at the meeting and has now revised that to a week later to avoid clashing with Ramadan, when Muslims fast in daylight hours. Valcke had said stakeholders were “getting closer” to two options, January- February and its preferred choice of November-December.
“We are not in a position to comment further as this process is ongoing,” FIFA said two days ago in a statement. Officials from the confederations of Asia, Oceania and Africa didn’t immediately return e-mails seeking comment on their votes.
Domestic disruption
Changing the timing of the quadrennial event will cause disruption to Europe’s top professional leagues and risk hurting viewing figures for broadcasters in markets such as the US, where the World Cup would compete against the National Football League and National Basketball Association.
FIFA said the tournament must be rescheduled because of health risks posed by the temperatures. FIFA’s board ignored weather concerns when in 2010 it chose the desert emirate as a more suitable candidate over offers from the US, Australia, Korea and Japan.
Blatter promised his International Olympic Committee counterpart Thomas Bach that the World Cup won’t be played in January-February to avoid a clash with the Winter Olympics.
“That is FIFA, they don’t want to clash with the Olympic Committee but the rest of the world wants to find the best solution for the football,” Michel Platini, president of European governing body UEFA, told reporters two days ago.
May option
European clubs and leagues want more say over the timing because they provide most of the athletes, including about 75 per cent of the players for this year’s World Cup in Brazil.
The ECA said it will work with the European Professional Football Leagues, a group representing the region’s leagues that was also at the FIFA meeting, to come up with a workable plan to hold the tournament in May.
“A potential May option was actually very welcomed by many participants, in particular the leagues,” the ECA said in its statement. “We will therefore now speak to the leagues and try to elaborate a May alternative, which will be presented at the next meeting.”
South American and North American officials have also complained about the disruption caused by a possible switch to November. Club seasons in the majority of countries there run through December.
Late starts
The ECA’s proposal calls for World Cup group games to kick off between 6pm and 11pm Domestic cup competitions would be suspended and played in a one-month period after the tournament to allow league seasons to finish before the World Cup.
Qatari organisers have expressed a preference to host the World Cup in winter though “remain fully committed to delivering what was promised in the bid,” according to a FIFA statement.
Qatar, the richest country in the world per capita, said it will create a carbon-neutral air conditioning system for all stadiums and training venues. — Bloomberg
