FIFA President Sepp Blatter has revealed that the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar will not be played on Dec. 23, if the proposal to have a winter World Cup are rubber-stamped by FIFA officials in March.
[ RELATED: Winter World Cup in Qatar ]
Blatter, 78, is in Belfast for the International Football Association Board (IFAB) meeting in Northern Ireland this weekend and was asked about the proposal by a FIFA taskforce which stated the tournament should take place in November/December in 2022 due to the extreme heat of the Qatari summer.
With the huge impact a winter World Cup will have on domestic schedules across the globe, FIFA and Blatter have been heavily criticized by fans, pundits and the media for even hosting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
One of the big question marks surrounding the winter World Cup is whether or not the traditional festive schedule will be allowed to play out in the Premier League. If the players are given a week off after the World Cup, it is unlikely that one of the most eagerly awaited days in the English soccer schedule, Boxing Day, will be eradicated from the 2022/23 schedule.
It’s not only that, but the impact a winter World Cup will have on the 2021/22 season in the lead up to the World Cup as plenty of things will have to be shifted around to accommodate the huge schedule change. Leaders of league’s across Europe have spoken out and feel “let down” by the decision to host the World Cup in the winter months.
Right now one thing is for sure, it seems. There will not be a World Cup final two days before Christmas Day.