Sepp Blatter Wants a Winter 2022 World Cup in Qatar
Introduction:
When referring to summer and winter, I am referring to the Northern Hemisphere. There are parts of the world where June and July are winter months while January counts as Summer.
Sepp Blatter has admitted that he is willing to change the timing of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to winter. He states that his reason is that Qatar could be from 45 to 50 degrees Celsius in the summer.
The idea was also supported by Michel Platini and Franz Beckenbauer.
Jerome Valcke (the General Secretary of FIFA) responded that allowing such a change could be an opportunity for all nations to host the World Cup.
The declaration was made after Blatter returned from a tour of the Middle East which included Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.
The change of date is not the only proposal since there was talk about Qatar sharing the World Cup with countries such as the United Arab Emirates.
After making his declaration, Blatter stated that the decision to change the date venue would have to come from Qatar.
If Qatar decides to change the date, the proposal would have to be considered by the FIFA Executive Committee
Qatar has not made any comments with respect to a change in date. The bidding committee for Qatar 2022 has also been silent about the proposal.
The bidding committee for Qatar 2022 have stated in the past that they will build stadiums that will be conditioned for the summer heat.
They made their declaration as a response to a comment by the FIFA Committee Member from the USA (Chuck Blazer) who once said, "You cannot air condition a whole country."
While the world has to accept Qatar as a host for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the date should not be changed.
The reason is traditional since World Cups are held in the summer. The other reason is logical in that a chain reaction (or domino effect) could occur.
What is the domino effect? The possibility that other countries that host the World Cup in the future could change the dates causing chaos with spectators, organizers, tour groups and even the press.
If it isn't broken do not fix it with the exception of FIFA management.
