Winter World Cup in Qatar raises questions

 

By , 14 Jan 2011

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FIFA said on Thursday that talk of dates for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was “speculative,” as suggestions of holding the event in winter raised the prospect of a clash with the Winter Olympics.

The president of world football’s governing body, Sepp Blatter, said last week that he expected that Qatar’s cup would be held in the winter, after the emirate was controversially chosen for 2022 despite its searing summer heat.

While that would represent a historic shift for the world’s most popular sports event, the idea also brought about the possibility for the first time of a clash with the Winter Olympics, which is held in the same year.

“There had never been any reference to a date,” a FIFA spokesperson told AFP, while confirming that Blatter “expects that Qatar will be a winter World Cup.”

“What he stressed is that first the request must be made by the organising committee of Qatar,” the spokesperson added, insisting that talk about more specific timing was “speculative” for now.

Blatter has said the issue could be discussed at a FIFA executive committee meeting in March.

“Given that both the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and FIFA distribute revenues across the global sport industry, there is a need to ensure that a winter world cup does not negatively impact on the ability to generate revenues,” said Geoff Walters, of the Birbeck Sports Business Centre at London University.

While it was bidding, Qatar outlined high tech and innovative plans for cooled stadiums for the World Cup. Its organisers showed little sign of preparing to stage the event in the cooler winter climate in the Gulf.

So far, the Winter Olympics, which are staged every four years, have been held in the northern hemisphere during the coldest or most snowbound period around February. The International Olympic Committee will choose a host for 2022 in four years’ time.

“If it was decided that the World Cup will take place in the winter months of 2022 then FIFA will have to work with the IOC in order to avoid a clash,” Walters explained.

“There are a number of key stakeholders that such a clash could impact on, including the broadcasters and sponsors.”

© AFP 2012
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