LONDON: Leading European clubs want FIFA to hold the Qatar World Cup in April 2022, Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in a British newspaper interview published yesterday.
A task force set up by world governing body FIFA will meet in Zurich next week to investigate the feasibility of moving the tournament from its traditional mid-year slot, amid fears about soaring summer temperatures in Qatar.
FIFA and its European counterpart UEFA want the tournament to be staged during the Northern Hemisphere winter, but Rummenigge, who chairs the European Club Association (ECA), thinks it should take place in the spring.
“At the moment, there are two proposals on the table: the FIFA proposal in November and the UEFA proposal in January,” Rummenigge told The Times. “Our proposal is a bit different. We will publish that in the next few days.
“We have made some research ... and the outcome of this research is that the best option would be to start the World Cup at the end of April, finishing in May.
“It’s still hot, but it would be something like 35 degrees (Celsius) maximum. If you then play in the evening, let’s say 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm, then 9:30 pm (in Qatar) is 7:30 pm in central Europe, 6:30 pm in the UK.
“From all points of view, that’s no problem. We will bring this option to the table to discuss at the FIFA task force on November 3.”
Speaking earlier this month, Rummenigge warned that European clubs will not foot the bill if the 2022 World Cup is moved to a different time of year.
“If now there is a strong wish (to move the 2022 World Cup) from various stakeholders like FIFA, UEFA, FIFPro and so on, we are ready to discuss, but under one condition: that there is no damage for club football,” he told the Leaders Sport Business Summit in London.
“Because if we have a change from summer to November or to January, then they will be affecting our business, our calendar. And the bill at the end can’t be paid by the clubs. We are not ready to pay such a bill.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria will be banned from all football unless a court decision that sacked the country’s recently elected FA executives is not overturned by Friday, world governing body FIFA announced on Tuesday.
A leadership crisis has bedeviled the African champions for the past four months despite several interventions by FIFA, who have now warned it will slap a lengthy ban on it.
Last week, a group led by Chris Giwa secured a court ruling that sacked the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) executive committee led by Amaju Pinnick.
Giwa, who maintains he was elected NFF president on August 26 although FIFA refused to recognise it, took the matter to court in contravention of FIFA statutes forbidding football issues to be deliberated in a civil court.
But a letter from FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke to Pinnick, who was elected as president of the NFF on September 30, said FIFA had extended the deadline for Nigeria till Friday as an opportunity to avoid a lengthy ban.
“This gives Nigerian football a last opportunity to avoid a lengthy suspension,” stated Valcke.AFP
