European football clubs have "refused to rule out" a summer World Cup in Qatar in '22, saying they want to be given "strong, decisive" reasons before accepting a decision to move it to a different time of year, according to Brian Homewood of REUTERS. The European Clubs' Association (ECA) contradicted FIFA President Sepp Blatter's view that a summer tournament was "off the agenda, pointing out that cooling technology for stadiums and pitches had been an integral part of Qatar's successful bid to host the competition." ECA Vice Chair Umberto Gandini said, "It would be very, very important to have strong arguments to convince the European game to disrupt its season in favor of a World Cup in another (earlier or later) part of the year." Gandini said that FIFA should "pay more attention to the clubs, leagues and players who would not be taking part in the 2022 World Cup and would have their seasons disrupted by a potential move." He said, "We don't necessarily place any attention on those who won't go to Qatar. The majority of the players will not go to the World Cup, the majority of the leagues will not be represented at the World Cup" (REUTERS, 9/9).
WEBB CALLS FOR OVERHAUL: REUTERS' Mike Collett reported FIFA VP Jeffrey Webb said that FIFA needs an
"overhaul at the highest level including changes to the way its governing
executive committee is elected to become a fairer reflection of today's
global football landscape." Webb, who is also the president of CONCACAF, said that the world "was changing and FIFA needed to reflect those changes after years of having its image tarnished by one scandal after another." He also said he had "no aspirations" to challenge
Blatter for the presidency of FIFA after the incumbent president
"said on Monday he would stand for a fifth term of office in next year's
elections" (REUTERS, 9/9). Webb said, "If you look from a business standard, look at what Blatter and [FIFA General Secetary] Jerome Valcke have delivered, we need that consistency. We could have gone further with the reforms. The landscape of global football has changed. But we should be brave enough and bold enough to take on the challenges of reforming the committee" (London INDEPENDENT, 9/9).
DUTCH FA SPEAKS OUT: The Dutch FA (KNVB) has said that it will "not be voting" for Blatter. KNVB President Michael van Praag told reporters "about
the association's stand on Monday but admitted he saw no chance of the
Swiss incumbent being swept from power." Van Praag said, "I realized this in Brazil, even after we in Europe had sought
to discuss the impact of Blatter on the good name of FIFA" (REUTERS, 9/9).
