Winter Sports Federations Urged To Fight 2022 Qatar World Cup Date Switch

Winter sports federations "have been urged to fight any plans to move the 2022 football World Cup to the winter," according to the BBC. FIFA "has set up a taskforce to consider alternative dates after concerns over high summer temperatures in host country Qatar." But the Int'l Ski Federation (FIS) "fears its sport could suffer." FIS said, "FIS will submit a proposal to the six winter sports federations to sign a resolution against organising the World Cup during the winter" (BBC, 11/4). REUTERS' Karolos Grohmann wrote FIS "has long viewed FIFA's plans with suspicion, aware that a football World Cup, the world's biggest and most popular single sports event, would take away viewers and sponsors from the skiing season." FIS President Gian-Franco Kasper has repeatedly warned that "such plans would impact the skiing competition and has called on FIFA to respect other sports federations" (REUTERS, 11/4).