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A World Cup in the summer would be too hot; a World Cup in the winter would disrupt the European football season. Now Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has suggested an April compromise for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
“It really is a difference whether you play in November, in January or even in April, which cannot be ruled out. In April the temperatures in Qatar are really quite pleasant,” he told Germany’s Sport Bild weekly yesterday.
Rummenigge, who is president of the European Club Association (ECA), said a World Cup 2022 in April would not entail too many changes to the international match calendar.
The executive committee of football world governing body FIFA will be discussing at a meeting in Zurich on October 3 and 4 the possibility of moving the 2022 World Cup to winter.
ECA recently urged FIFA not to make any hasty decisions on the issue. ECA, which represents 214 clubs from all 53 members of the continental governing body UEFA, wants to discuss a European position with all national associations, leagues and players.
The UEFA executive committee is expected to put forward its position at a meeting in Dubrovnik on Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile, FIFA president Joseph Blatter says “political influence” played a part in the vote for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup.
“Clearly, yes. There was direct political influence,” the head of football’s world governing body told Germany’s Die Zeit weekly in an interview to appear today.