Premier League Alone In Opposition Of Moving 2022 World Cup In Qatar To Winter

The EPL's opposition to a winter World Cup in Qatar "is looking increasingly isolated after the head of the European Club Association, which represents over 200 clubs across the Continent, re-iterated his organisation's support for switching the 2022 tournament from the searing heat of the summer," according to Andrew Warshaw of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. ECA Chair and Bayern Munich Exec Board Chair Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said that "staging the tournament in June and July is a non-starter" -- and has the backing of the German Football League. The ECA holds its general assembly in Geneva in September, when elections for a number of board members take place. Although '22 is not officially on the agenda, the Premier League's ECA representative, Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis, "will need all his diplomatic skills to persuade his colleagues among the ECA top brass that retaining a summer World Cup in 2022 is the best option" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 7/23).