It’s hardly a huge surprise.
Ever since Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2022, questions were asked about the suitability of the country to host the tournament during the summer time – when the World Cup is traditionally held – considering that temperatures in the Arab state tend to soar over 40 degrees Celsius during the summer months.
The climate was one of a number of issues surrounding Qatar’s hosting of the tournament – rumoured corruption in the bidding process and shoddy treatment of labourers during construction of match venues and other tournament infrastructure are others – and FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke confirmed what many would have seen as inevitable news in an interview on Radio France today.
“The dates for the World Cup (in Qatar) will not be June to July,” he said.
“To be honest, I think it will be held between November 15 and January 15 at the latest.
“If you play between November 15 and the end of December that’s the time when the weather conditions are best, when you can play in temperatures equivalent to a warm spring season in Europe, averaging 25 degrees.
“That would be perfect for playing football.”
Aside from the fact that some players would argue that 25 degrees is far from ‘perfect’ for playing football – what would Steve Staunton think? – the rescheduling of the tournament is likely to cause absolute havoc with the schedules of, for example, every major European league for a number of seasons in order to facilitate the availability of players.
Furthermore, other countries involved in the original bidding process will hardly react to well to the news, which screams of a complete lack of pre-planning and organisation on behalf of the organisers.
What say you now Sepp Blatter?
