FA Chair Greg Dyke "still expects the Qatar World Cup to be switched to autumn or winter," according to the PA. The European Club Association "is set to lobby for the finals to be played in April and May 2022 when a taskforce set up to look at the issue meets on Nov. 3." Dyke met with FIFA President Sepp Blatter recently and believes that "the sport's most powerful man is certainly of the view that the 2022 finals cannot be held in their traditional June-July slot because of the searing heat in the Gulf state at that time of year." Dyke: "Mr. Blatter had flown to Qatar straight after the World Cup [in Brazil] so he was there in July and I think he just realized how unbelievably hot it is. His view is that we can't possibly hold it in the summer. There seems to be some going back on that now, that we could hold it in the summer after all." Dyke said that "he felt the finals would ultimately be held in either November-December 2022 or January-February 2023." Bringing the event forward to Jan. or Feb. '22 "has been mooted, but a clash with the Winter Olympics presents a potentially insurmountable obstacle." Another alternative, apparently favored by Blatter, "would see the World Cup take place in November and December, when the climate would be more suited to football." But that would represent a "huge disruption" to many domestic leagues -- a prospect that could "wreak havoc with European structures" -- effectively splitting the '22-23 campaign in two as well as having a knock-on effect to future seasons. May temperatures in Qatar "would still be stifling, but unlikely to be significantly higher" than those experienced in Mexico ('86), the U.S. ('94) or Japan and South Korea ('02) (PA, 10/26). The BBC reported the the Association of European Professional Football Leagues insists that the tournament must be played in the "summer period" as planned. The EPFL "is made up of 21 leagues" including the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 in France. EPFL Chair Frederic Thiriez said, "The EPFL considers that any re-scheduling of the World Cup would be damaging to the domestic competitions and the leagues' business and sporting interests." Qatar 2022's organizers "have always insisted they can play host in the summer, pointing to their plan to use air-cooling technology to lower temperatures within stadiums and fan zones." Former FIFA official Harold Mayne-Nicholls, who led FIFA's technical commission which assessed each bid for the '18 and '22 tournaments, also "suggested an earlier tournament, with games kicking off in the early hours of the morning" (BBC, 10/24). In Paris, RFI reported that World players’ union FIFPro was "surprised Sunday by the 'flip-flop'" of the EPFL, in speaking out Friday against a change of dates for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. FIFPro President Philippe Piat wrote in a statement: “Much to my surprise, I read, like everyone else, that the EPFL, through the voice of Frederic Thiriez or that of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, was no longer in favor of coming to a consensus on a change of date for the Qatar World Cup, in 2022, that everyone wants to see played in the winter. This about-face by the European leagues, the status-quo these days, is probably due to the desire of the EPFL and the ECA to shortly claim compensation from FIFA. ... FIFPro will continue to oppose putting the health of players in danger, as indicated by FIFA rules, which specify that [temperatures] above 32 degrees is a major risk for players. FIFPro therefore reaffirms that we will not play the 2022 World Cup in the summer” (RFI, 10/26).
TIME FOR A CHANGE: REUTERS' Tom Hayward reported Dyke "believes a second candidate should challenge" Blatter for the FIFA presidency when he stands for re-election in June next year. Dyke has called for change and believes that "the presidential reign should be restricted to two terms." Dyke said, "As an individual he [Blatter] is OK, but two terms is probably as long as anyone should do in that job. You need change and it's hard to get change if you don't change the president. The FA made it very clear we didn't think he should have stood again. We did think he stood last time on the basis that would be his last term and therefore we needed another candidate. I think there's a possibility another serious candidate emerges. I think their chances of getting in are not great. I think Blatter will be there for another four years" (REUTERS, 10/26).
