UEFA has told the Spanish Football League (LFP) to "stop challenging the decision" to move the dates of the 2022 World Cup to November-December, according to the AP. To avoid Qatar's "fierce summer heat, the 2022 World Cup is being moved from its traditional June-July slot, resulting in European competitions stopping for around two months." Fearing losses of around $70M if the league shuts down, the LFP appealed against FIFA's scheduling change to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. But UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino suggested LFP President Javier Tebas' public protest was because he "wants to get some publicity out of it." He said, "It's a bit sad that people don't accept decisions taken by a vast majority." Infantino added that the "vast majority of leagues" and the European Club Association accepted playing the World Cup for the first time at the end of the year. But the ECA and European Professional Leagues organization "jointly suggested starting the World Cup in May -- a proposal rejected by FIFA's executive committee in March." Some of the federations "were calmed" when FIFA agreed to pay clubs worldwide $209M for releasing players for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups (
AP, 6/30).
