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24th Feb 2015

The FIFA task force recommends Qatar World Cup to be played in Nov/Dec

There'll be no Christmas shopping getting done

Eric Lalor

There’ll be no Christmas shopping getting done

There has been much discussion about the feasibility of 2022 World Cup being played in the Middle East in their traditional summer time slot.

With temperatures soaring well into the high 40s Celsius, it’s been deemed unsafe to play it then.

FIFA set up a task force with the remit of finding the best possible time to play the tournament.

They have recommended that the tournament takes place in November and December. January and February are already taken up by the Winter Olympics – yes, you read that right.

AFC Congress 2013

It’s sure to cause more concern for other tournaments as the African Cup of Nations is scheduled for January 2023 in Guinea.

The head of the task force is Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa (pic above) and he said “Stakeholders are concerned about playing in the summer, so we have to change to winter.

“The only option that I see is November/December.”

Can you imagine a World Cup Final in the days leading up to Christmas?