European clubs "will make a last-ditch effort on Tuesday" to persuade FIFA against moving the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to November "but the tournament appears destined for winter regardless," according to Owen Gibson of the London GUARDIAN. With European clubs increasingly resigned to a winter tournament, their focus "is expected to shift to trying to secure concessions, including a shortened World Cup with a shorter preparation period and fewer international friendly dates in that calendar year." The European Clubs Association and the Association of European Professional Leagues favor a tournament running from May 5-June 4, "when they argue that temperatures would be cool enough to protect players without throwing the domestic season into chaos." The date "is expected to be recommended at the end of Tuesday’s meeting in Doha," before the FIFA exec committee votes on the switch next month (GUARDIAN, 2/23). REUTERS' Brian Homewood wrote the ECA said that it "believed that May was still on the table." An ECA spokesperson said, "Our position remains unchanged really. We have elaborated a proposal with EPFL, which our representatives will present to the task force tomorrow. We want it to be seriously discussed. We are surprised by the reports claiming that there is an agreement. We are not aware" (REUTERS, 2/23). The PA's Martyn Ziegler wrote one task force member said, "It is almost certain that November/December will be agreed but the trade-offs will be for a cut in the length of the World Cup and the preparation period beforehand. The leagues have been forceful in arguing that you only need two weeks' preparation beforehand rather than the usual three or four, and that the tournament does not need to be as long as the 32 days it was in Brazil." Britain's FIFA VP Jim Boyce favors a January/February option "but accepted that would clash with the Winter Olympics, and said the important thing was to agree to play the tournament in the winter." Boyce: "If it's going to be in Qatar then let's agree on a date in the winter and look forward to a wonderful World Cup there because you cannot possibly take people there to play it in the summer" (PA, 2/23). The BBC's Richard Conway wrote "the proposal raises the prospect of a stand-off between the game's governing bodies and European clubs over domestic schedules and player availability for the tournament." However, UEFA President Michel Platini has already said it will be a winter tournament and "that it's not possible to play in May when it's 40 degrees." Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa said that "there were two winter options -- January/February or November/December -- but cited a clash between January 2022 and the Winter Olympics as undesirable" (BBC, 2/23).
