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FIFA Task Force Recommends Winter 2022 Qatar World Cup At Doha Meeting

FIFA’s World Cup in Qatar "looks likely to be shifted from the summer months" of  '22 to November and December of that year, following months of "protracted negotiations with European and other domestic football leagues," according to Roger Blitz of the FINANCIAL TIMES. A task force meeting of football’s world governing body in Doha said that "it was recommending the shift after concluding that other alternative dates in the calendar were unviable because of clashes with the 2022 Winter Olympics and Ramadan." But the shift "has been greeted with opposition from domestic leagues, mainly in Europe, because it means they will have to rejig their schedules for that season." The leagues "have won a small concession" from FIFA after the task force said that "it was proposing a shorter duration for the 2022 World Cup, although the number of matches to be played and number of stadiums used are likely to remain the same" (FT, 2/24). In London, Ben Rumsby wrote the recommendation, which will be put to a vote of FIFA’s exec committee next month, "was far from unanimous and was immediately attacked" by EPL CEO Richard Scudamore. Scudamore "was unable to convince" representatives of FIFA’s six continental confederations to back instead a move to May-June at Tuesday’s final task-force meeting in Doha. Despite succeeding in gaining agreement for Qatar 2022 to be shortened by half a week, "he was left furious" by the proposed Nov. 26-Dec. 23 schedule he believes would ruin English football’s traditional Christmas program. Scudamore described the task force decision as "disappointing" and "wrong," while Stoke City Chair Peter Coates went further by branding it a “disaster” (TELEGRAPH, 2/24). The PA's Martyn Ziegler wrote Britain's FIFA VP Jim Boyce "will oppose any move" to hold the final as late as Dec. 23. Boyce, from Northern Ireland, said that moving the World Cup to the winter was a "common sense" decision but that a final on Dec. 23, which is reportedly one of the options, "would be too close to Christmas and the traditional festive matches." Boyce: "I think that is too close to Christmas -- that's the only reservation I would have and I would like it a week earlier, but I want to wait until the FIFA executive committee meeting to hear all the details about the dates" (INDEPENDENT, 2/24). REUTERS' Mike Collett wrote the European giants "will have seven years to get used to the idea that they must re-schedule five or six matches in the winter of 2022," for the first time in almost 100 years of World Cup football. Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-­Khalifa, the head of the Task Force, said that for once, "they may have to put football's wider interests ahead of their own." Salman: "Some people have concerns, but whatever decision you're going to take will have some questions about it. But we need to look at the overall benefit for everybody." The next stage in the long-running saga will come when FIFA's exec committee meets in Zurich on March 19 and 20 "to endorse the Task Force proposals." That "will settle the issue once and for all" (REUTERS, 2/24).

ECA WRATH: In London, Burrows & Munnery wrote Europe’s top football clubs threatened a compensation fight after FIFA’s task force said that "the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar should take place days before Christmas." The proposals "drew the wrath" of the European Clubs Association over concerns about the financial impact of placing the tournament in the middle of the busy European football calendar. The ECA, whose members include nine Premier League clubs as well as Europe’s other leading teams, "threatened to seek compensation" from FIFA if, as seems likely, it approves a winter World Cup next month (LONDON TIMES, 2/24).

'BEST OF THE BAD': ESPN reported ITV reporter Steve Scott tweeted that Scudamore said, "It looks like nobody else is giving much up, even UEFA, who have let us down a little. The Champions League can start and carry on as always." FA Chair Greg Dyke said the November-December proposal was "the best of the bad options" but warned that the disruption it would cause to domestic football calendars would be considerable (ESPN, 2/24). ESPN also reported ECA Chair Karl-Heinz Rummenigge thinks that "Europe's clubs deserve to be compensated." Rummenigge, who is also chairman of Bayern Munich, "has called for compensation due to the effect that the proposed tournament will have on domestic schedules." Rummenigge: "All match calendars across the world will have to accommodate such a tournament in 2022-23, which requires everyone's willingness to compromise. However, the European clubs and leagues cannot be expected to bear the costs for such rescheduling. We expect the clubs to be compensated for the damage that a final decision would cause." German Football League (DFL) outbound Managing Dir Andreas Rettig said, "FIFA now must show how a solution might look which accommodates all interests. Attention has also be paid to the workload of the players. A shortened fixture list cannot mean that the same amount of games have to be played in less time" (ESPN, 2/24). The AFP reported officials said that "there was no proposal to reduce the number of countries taking part from 32." A FIFA statement said, "The outcome of the discussions is also a proposed reduced competition days schedule with the exact dates to be defined in line with the match schedule and number of venues to be used" (AFP, 2/24). The BBC reported African officials "agree with the taskforce, even though they will almost certainly have to move the 2023 African Cup of Nations from its January-February slot." Confederation of African Football Dir of Communications Junior Binyam said it was backing the proposal "100 percent." CONCACAF, the confederation responsible for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, said it "fully supports" the recommendations. The U.S. Major League Soccer season "will be unaffected given it runs from March until October." It is "likely to be a similar tale with the Asian Football Confederation, given Sheikh Salman is president of that particular body" (BBC, 2/24).

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