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," according to Tariq Panja of BLOOMBERG. Representatives of clubs, leagues and national and regional federations "met at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters last week to discuss the situation." Three people familiar with the matter said that a World Cup starting in January "was the most popular at the meeting." One source said that 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." The European Club Association said, “We were surprised by FIFA’s media release issued following the meeting, which in our opinion did not correctly reflect the discussions." FIFA said, "We are not in a position to comment further as this process is ongoing." Blatter promised IOC President Thomas Bach that "the World Cup won’t be played in January-February to avoid a clash with the Winter Olympics." UEFA President Michel Platini said, "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" (BLOOMBERG, 11/6).
