While the IOC is looking at ways to significantly reduce the costs of staging the Games, Olympic Council of Asia President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah warned that "there is unlikely to ever be a dirt-cheap solution," according to Julian Linden of REUTERS. Sheikh Ahmad said that while the IOC was investigating ways to cut costs, "the sheer size and prestige of the Games meant they would remain expensive." Sheikh Ahmad: "(Reducing) the operational costs are very important but we have to face facts. We want a landmark Games. And if we want landmark Games we have to maintain a level" (REUTERS, 11/6). The AFP reported Sheikh Ahmad ruled out rescheduling the 2022 Winter Olympics to avoid the Qatar World Cup on Thursday "as moves gather pace to shift football's showpiece to a cooler time of year." He said that "he was sure the two events would not clash." But the "highly influential Kuwaiti" said that "the World Cup had to fit in around the Winter Olympics, and not the other way round." Sheikh Ahmad: "I think the Olympics should be maintained because we don't have a problem. This is a FIFA issue, not an IOC issue" (AFP, 11/6).
