FIFA Execs Could Vote On Schedule For '22 Qatar World Cup

The FIFA Exec Committee will meet today in Zurich, and one of the issues likely to be "called for a vote will be whether to shift" the '22 Qatar World Cup from its traditional summer schedule to late fall and winter. FIFA President Sepp Blatter has made it known that he "believes a change in dates is necessary" due to the average summer time temperatures in the Arab nation (N.Y. TIMES, 10/2). Some officials "insisted they could still run games in the summer" by fitting venues with cooling systems (SKY.com, 10/3).

Int'l Ski Federation President Gian Franco Kasper said that moving the World Cup to winter "could weaken interest in winter sports ahead of that year's Olympics." Kasper said he is "getting worried" that a scheduling change would "kill not only most commercial sites for the winter sports, but also for the public" (AP, 10/2).