A FIFA task force has recommended that the 2022 World Cup be set for the winter months of November and December. The 2022 World Cup is to take place in Qatar, which is known to have extraordinarily hot summers.
FIFA officials met in Doha to discuss a number of alternatives to hosting the World Cup in the summer, as the weather in Qatar may endanger the players’ and fans’ health. After a lot of discussion, the recommendation seems to be to change the World Cup to the winter time, when Qatar’s temperatures will be around 25 degrees Celsius instead of the 40 degrees Celsius in the summer.
Some of the reasons for having the World Cup in November and December include the fact that a January and February tournament would clash with the 2022 Winter Olympics. Additionally, the month of Ramadan begins in April, which is a holiday that is widely celebrated across Qatar. Sheikh Salman of Qatar said, “We are very pleased that, after careful consideration of the various opinions and detailed discussions with all stakeholders, we have identified what we believe to be the best solution for the 2018-2024 international match calendar and football in general.”
This schedule change will definitely affect a lot of the leagues in Europe. Most leagues would be well into the season by November. With such imminent disruptions, there are potential boycotts being organized. Frederic Thiriez, president of the French football league and the European Professional Football Leagues, described it as “probably the most terrible decision” for domestic competitions. He also says, “I don’t want to threaten or say we will do this or that. Let’s wait for the final decision on 19 March. Then we will see what we’ll do. Everybody’s trying to find a solution. I’m trying to defend the interests of the leagues in Europe.”
Overall, this is definitely in uncharted water and both fans and players will be nervously waiting to see how this pans out. Will the domestic leagues have to change their schedules drastically? Will there be potential protests against this move? How will this affect international games, such as the Champions League? There are many questions that have yet to be answered by this proposal.
Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31600194
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I agree with you, Brian, but I think that this article gives a great summary of reasons why not only the tournament shouldn’t be held in November and December, but why it shouldn’t be held in Qatar at all. I wrote an article a few days ago about the Confederation’s Cup hosting privileges being stripped from Qatar, and a lot of the commenters (and you above!) mentioned what I missed, which is the HUGE factor of the World Cup’s interference with European, Brazilian, and other international leagues’ schedules. That, along with what Helena mentioned in terms of protests, boycotts, and the conflict with the Summer Olympics should be reason enough for not having the tournament in winter months. But I still don’t think the air conditioning/sprinklers features will be enough to compensate for the average 100ºF temperature in Qatar (especially considering that they can’t test drive them during the Confederation’s Cup) will be enough, and that along with Ramadan in April should be reason enough for why the tournament shouldn’t be held in summer months. All of this, combined with FIFA’s political/bribing sketchiness, the use of slave laborers, the deaths of these laborers, should be reason enough to not have the entire tournament in Qatar at all–yet somehow it is not. These concrete facts, coupled with the uncertainty Helena mentions in her last paragraph, should warrant moving the World Cup out of Qatar for good.
I think that the tournament will not be held over in November and December. While the temperature is unbearable in the summer, I’ve heard that many of the stadiums being built will have all-around air conditioning, and that if needed, I’m sure the government of Qatar will include perhaps water sprinklers or some other device to reduce the thermic sensation in the streets. In 2022, technology will have advanced greatly. The article summarizes why I think the tournament won’t be held in November/December. Not only does it interfere with European leagues, who would perhaps have to start in July and give November/December as their “vacation time” to the players, but in Brazil, the main league ends in the beginning of December. Thus, a change such as this could rid teams of their best players in the final rounds of the tournament, in addition to the fact that players would be away in the months preceding the World Cup. It’s is way too much of a global change that will be needed just to accommodate this event.