Qatar word cup is the most talked about world cup in the history of FIFA, coz this mega event has been in the headlines ever since Arab State won the hosting rights some five years back. The reason of its over media space is the hot climate this State enjoys during June – the traditional timing for the world cup and for that reason many experts all over the world have long been criticizing governing body for picking an unfavorable place for the event which would be followed by billions of fans including hundreds of thousands who would be there in the venue during each game. To counter this widespread criticism, governing body provided many solutions including one where Arab organizers have promised to provide conditioned venues for the world cup games but that too was rejected by European medical experts calling it would pose another danger on the health of players and spectators since they can’t live inside the stadiums forever, they would have to leave the venues after game and enter into the natural surrounding full of hot air.
Now, when less than twenty four months are left in the event, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has again reiterated Blatter’s earlier proposal to organize a winter world cup – probably in Nov- Dec or Jan-Feb. The statement is made public after task force’s suggestion set up by FIFA executive committee to scrutinize the soccer calendar between 2018 and 2024 and find out the most likely dates for the event. After a month long analysis, task force has now suggested that a winter world cup is the most viable option to safeguard the interests of all major domestic leagues around the world.
What Valcke said in a press release is, “We are getting closer to narrowing the dates for the FIFA World Cup to two options — January-February 2022 or November-December 2022 — but FIFA has also been asked to consider May 2022. We will summarise what we’ve heard today and provide feedback to all parties in order for them to prepare for the next meeting as we progress towards a final decision.”
“We are pleased with the level of detail provided by the participants and with the productive discussions that took place today. We now have a greater understanding of where each of the stakeholders is coming from and we will carefully consider these opinions as we move forward towards defining the international match calendar,” added Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.
If ever it happens, it would the first world cup to be held on non-conventional timings in the history hence expect a widespread opposition by the concerned against this possible decision of the world governing body.