Blatter to ask to move 2022 World Cup

[hzv]

a winter world cup is the stupidest thing i ever heard, only someone who has gotten millions of dollars can be blinded to this point as not to see how stupid it is. i guess love is blind and in this case love of money has overshadowed love of football. we might very well see a few of the top teams either boycotting the event or sending their youth teams. holding the world cup in qatar is not just an awful logistical decision but also a huge mistake when it comes to fan support as well.lets face it we will see empty stadiums for sure. just to see qatar playing in a world cup is a lowering of the level of the world cup.

[CHaMiLLionaire]

Clubs won't agree to this. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars a season for preseason, stadium infrastructure, team preparation, transfer budgets, player wages, coach wages, fans, marketing, advertising and so and on so forth.... Fifa wants to delay the season so the clubs can agree to send off their players to a World Cup where the possibility of them getting injured is high?

I was one of the main supporters of the WC 2022 in Qatar, if they can pull it off. But to completely change the timings and structure of the seasons is just a disaster.

This will probably end up being moved.

[KC McElroy]

What's interesting is qatar temporarily bought this World Cup by promising to host a summer tournament in air conditioned stadiums with robot clouds. Their whole bid was a lie.

[Kaveh11]

What a sham, changing the parameters which the decision was founded upon... Good to read that important people are voicing their opinions on this matter too.

[Kaveh Ahangar]

...
I was one of the main supporters of the WC 2022 in Qatar, if they can pull it off. But to completely change the timings and structure of the seasons is just a disaster.

This will probably end up being moved.

Why on earth would you support a world cup in Qatar?

[Hosseini]

Not country around the Persian Gulf can or should host a WC. There is no positive outcome.

[KC McElroy]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer-...9871--sow.html

Awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar may well have been "a mistake", FIFA president Sepp Blatter said for the first time on Monday.

Staging the tournament in the Middle East has caused much controversy because if it is held over its traditional dates in the middle of the year, players will have to contend with searing 50 degrees Celsius heat.

Calls to move the World Cup to later in the year, during the European winter, have also been unpopular as it will cause major disruption to domestic league competitions in countries such as Spain, England, Italy, Germany and France.

Asked by insideworldfootball.com about awarding Qatar the tournament, Blatter said: "It may well be that we made a mistake at the time."

Blatter, who in May said it was "not rational" to play in Qatar in June and July, added: "On the other hand, you must also consider political and geo-political realities.

.. .."The World Cup is FIFA's biggest, if not only, global event. Who are we, the Europeans, to demand that this event has to cater to the needs of 800 million Europeans above all?

"I think it is high time that Europe starts to understand that we do not rule the world any more, and that some former European imperial powers can no longer impress their will on to others in far away places.

"We must accept that football has moved away from being a European and South American sport - it has become the world sport that billions of fans are excitedly following every week, everywhere in the world."

Blatter hopes FIFA's executive committee will endorse his proposal to switch the tournament to the winter.

If such a move is rubber-stamped, the Swiss added: "The next steps will include a close look at the international calendar and to establish what consequences the change would have.

"We would naturally need to speak to and consult with all interested parties and stakeholders."

Qatar defeated bids from South Korea, Japan, Australia and the United States to win the right to host the tournament for the first time.

[EKBATAN]

Aside from the heat and all that, this award should be cancelled because there was clear evidence that bin hammam cheated and bribed and he is banned for life. So why on earth are we keeping this award when the people involved cheated ?? they should make selections again or give it to the runner up. easy as that.

[Masoud_A]

Give it to Japan already you old fag! Blatter is literally the only hurdle now as he is Qatar Foundation's paid in advance bitch. If Brazil can host the World Cup and the Olympics, then Japan can as well.

[KC McElroy]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...world-cup.html

Fox Sports, which agreed to pay a record fee for U.S. broadcast rights to soccer’s World Cup, opposes plans by the sport’s governing body to reschedule the 2022 event in Qatar, two people familiar with the matter said.

James Murdoch, the son of 21st Century Fox Inc. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, and other network executives told FIFA that moving the competition by several months from its usual June start to the winter would clash with National Football League games, according to one person familiar with the matter. The people requested anonymity because the talks were private.

FIFA’s executive board is meeting next month to discuss a proposal by the Zurich-based organization’s president,Sepp Blatter, to reschedule the tournament because of the high temperatures in Qatar. Fox in 2011 agreed to pay $425 million for the two-tournament, 2018-22 package, more than four times what current rights holder ESPN paid for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and next year’s edition in Brazil.

“FIFA has informed us that they are considering and voting on moving the 2022 World Cup,” Fox said in an e-mailed statement. “Fox Sports bought the World Cup rights with the understanding they would be in the summer as they have been since the 1930s.”

Since Qatar, a Persian Gulf emirate smaller than Connecticut, in 2010 became the surprise choice to host sport’s most-watched event, FIFA has faced questions about the selection.

The governing body’s executive board chose Qatar ahead of offers from the U.S., Australia and Korea and Japan even though FIFA’s inspection team said the choice would be high risk. The biggest danger is posed by temperatures that can reach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) during the summer months. FIFA declined to discuss its discussions with Fox.

“The matter of the timing of the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be discussed in various ad hoc committees as well as the FIFA Executive Committee and until these meetings have taken place FIFA is in no position to make any further comments,” FIFA said in a statement.

Fox’s concerns about the effect of a schedule change echo those of England’s Premier League, soccer’s richest domestic competition. Richard Scudamore, the chief executive officer of the English championship, has opposed a switch. He’s argued that moving the tournament to winter would force changes to European soccer schedules for several seasons.

FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke, who is responsible for the World Cup, told reporters in Buenos Aires last week that stakeholders shouldn’t expect compensation.

“No, no, no, compensation is a word you should never use,” he said when asked about whether FIFA would make financial settlements to those affected by date changes.

FIFA officials will meet Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 to make a decision on the proposal, and then a detailed investigation into the implications will take place, Valcke said.

“I am sure that we will all come to an agreement that playing in summer presents some challenges and that winter is a better period to have the World Cup and that all the parties will agree on the date and the change of the calendar,” he said.

Europe’s biggest clubs and leagues last week urged FIFA not to commit to a move before assessing the effects of the change. Their stance was today backed up by Football Federation Australia Chairman Frank Lowy, who said the global governing body should take time to consult its member associations.

FIFA also needs to consider paying “just and fair compensation” to those nations that invested “many millions and national prestige” in bidding for a 2022 tournament held in the northern hemisphere summer, Lowy said in a statement.

“FIFA has an opportunity now to make the best of a bad situation by embarking on a transparent and orderly approach, unlike the process that led to the original flawed decision in December 2010,” Lowy said.

[EKBATAN]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...world-cup.html



Since Qatar, a Persian Gulf emirate smaller than Connecticut, in 2010 became the surprise choice to host sport’s most-watched event, FIFA has faced questions about the selection.
.

[shayan_esteghlali]

in the article itself it says only 'Gulf', kc changed it to persian gulf

[PERSIANMAFIA]

Blatter: Europe wanted a Qatar World Cup



The Fifa president says that many western governments wanted the tournament in the Gulf due to trade links with the country
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has claimed that European governments encouraged their national football associations to vote in favour of a Qatar World Cup.

The awarding of the 2022 tournament to the Gulf nation has been a controversial issue due to its political stance towards alcohol and homosexuality, and the adverse local weather conditions during June and July.

With the debate over moving the competition to the European winter raging on, Blatter has claimed that many western governments wanted Qatar to be given hosting rights due to trade links with the nations.

"Yes, definitely there was direct political influences," he told die Zeit.

"European leaders recommended to their voting members to vote for Qatar, because they have great economic interests with this country."

The 2022 World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010, with the 2018 tournament going to Russia.

[EKBATAN]

Blatter: Europe wanted a Qatar World Cup



The Fifa president says that many western governments wanted the tournament in the Gulf due to trade links with the country
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has claimed that European governments encouraged their national football associations to vote in favour of a Qatar World Cup.

The awarding of the 2022 tournament to the Gulf nation has been a controversial issue due to its political stance towards alcohol and homosexuality, and the adverse local weather conditions during June and July.

With the debate over moving the competition to the European winter raging on, Blatter has claimed that many western governments wanted Qatar to be given hosting rights due to trade links with the nations.

"Yes, definitely there was direct political influences," he told die Zeit.

"European leaders recommended to their voting members to vote for Qatar, because they have great economic interests with this country."

The 2022 World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010, with the 2018 tournament going to Russia.

Blatter should change his last name to COLON......cuz he's full of it

[KC McElroy]

We're getting there.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/football...3#.Ujpab3cghbl



QATAR are in danger of having the 2022 World Cup snatched from them as a result of a four-pronged attack on their right to stage the tournament.

Pressure from Europe’s football elite — including the Premier League — as well as the concerns of powerful American TV interests, Qatar’s beaten rival bidders for 2022 and anti-corruption investigators could scupper the project to stage the world’s biggest football tournament in the small but oil-rich desert state.

It is virtually certain that football’s world governing body, FIFA, will announce early next month that the 2022 tournament cannot be staged in Qatar in the summer — as originally envisaged when the World Cup was awarded to the emirate three years ago — because of the dangerously high temperatures, which can reach 40 degrees centigrade.

FIFA will propose switching the tournament to winter, but American TV giant Fox have told The Mail on Sunday that they agreed to pay $1billion for the rights to screen the World Cup in the summers of 2018 and 2022, not in winter. Industry sources say it is ‘unimaginable’ that they will accept a switch, not at that price.

The Mail on Sunday has also learned that, contrary to the public claim of FIFA president Sepp Blatter last week that bidders for 2022 agreed only ‘in principle’ to a summer event, the words ‘in principle’ did not appear in tender or bidding documents.

This bombshell revelation highlights the enormous legal complexities ahead. Legally and contractually, Qatar are obliged to stage a summer event that most agree they cannot now stage. But they have no legal or contractual right to stage a winter World Cup in 2022.

Although the head of Qatar’s bid, Hassan al-Thawadi, has been bullish in recent days that there is ‘no reason’ why his Middle Eastern nation — roughly the size of Yorkshire — cannot host the tournament, one source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘This is far from over. Qatar won’t be keeping 2022 without a struggle.’

The 2022 World Cup, lest we forget, is a tournament the FA’s new chairman, Greg Dyke, has set as a target for England to win. Goalkeeper Jack Butland, who will be 29, could be a fixture between the England posts by then, playing alongside other stars such as Phil Jones, (then 30), Luke Shaw (27), Jack Wilshere (30), Ross Barkley (28), Raheem Sterling (27) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (29).

Dyke’s target always looked unlikely for a tournament expected to be played in inhospitable conditions, even with Qatar’s much-vaunted plan to build air-conditioned stadia capable of dealing with high heat and humidity. A switch to winter might suit England’s national interests, but senior administrative figures within Europe’s major leagues are talking privately about the impossibility of a winter World Cup and are lobbying hard against it. Some are even suggesting a boycott.

If a winter event is ruled out and summer has been established as too hot for Qatar, then a change of venue would be the only option.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has told FIFA that he will not support a move to winter, while Dyke insists Qatar cannot host in summer. Their combined position, essentially, is that Qatar cannot stage the 2022 World Cup.

The major European leagues’ umbrella body, the EPFL, made it clear last week that an extensive consultation process must take place before FIFA’s Executive Committee rubber-stamps any winter move.

‘Any change to the international calendar must be carefully assessed through a full and proper consultation and decision making process balancing all relevant interests, including all football stakeholders and notably the EPFL,’ said a statement. The EPFL outlined how a switch to winter is far from simple, disrupting not just Europe’s domestic leagues but other major international sports events such as the Winter Olympics, FIFA tournaments including the Confederations Cup, UEFA tournaments including the Champions League and even impact on the global transfer and contract systems.

The EPFL’s public tone is amicable for now, ‘kindly requesting’ that FIFA do not make definitive decisions on a winter switch at FIFA’s next executive committee meeting on October 3-4.

But key figures from leagues of all sizes are increasingly indignant. ‘Clearing an eight-week winter window is a nightmare,’ said one. ‘That won’t be in January or February because even FIFA won’t go up against the IOC and clash with the Winter Olympics. So even theoretically you’d be looking at mid-October to mid-December. That cannot happen in 2021, it’s just impossible logistically to fit qualifying in between Euro 2020 and then.

‘And if you think the back end of 2022 is easier, try working out how much disruption that causes in the three or more years afterwards.’

One influential FIFA executive who has gone public with a plea for a detailed assessment of a winter switch before any vote is Sunil Gulati, the president of the US Soccer Federation and a new FIFA executive committee member.

He says: ‘I don’t see at this stage, frankly, how I or any member of FIFA’s executive committee could make a sensible decision [on a winter switch without a detailed impact assessment]’ ... we don’t have enough information and there are too many questions.’

Gulati wants detailed answers about how a winter switch would affect participants, leagues around the world and even Fifa finances if TV contracts have to be ripped up, potentially costing Fifa lost revenues in the billions.

Fox Sports, together with Telemundo (a subsidiary of the mighty NBC), bid $1bn for summer World Cups in 2018 and 2022. A Fox spokesman says: ‘Fox Sports bought the World Cup rights with the understanding they would be in the summer as they have been since the 1930s.’

Fox would not comment on potential legal action if the 2022 event moves to winter, but a network insider says the broadcaster ‘will not countenance’ a World Cup being given prominence on US TV between October and December.

America’s primary ‘sports property’, NFL football, is screened on Sundays in that time and the hugely popular college football is screened on Saturdays.

Asked about TV contract problems and EPFL opposition to a winter switch, a FIFA spokeswoman said: ‘The matter of the timing of the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be discussed in various ad hoc committees as well as the FIFA Executive Committee at the occasion of its next session on 3-4 October in Zurich and until these meetings have taken place FIFA is in no position to make any further comments.’ If the World Cup of 2022 is moved to winter in Qatar, FIFA face possible legal action from other 2022 bidders who lost out, having bid specifically for a summer event. Those rivals were the United States, Australia, Korea and Japan. It is understood the Australians are most likely to sue, with the Americans keeping a ‘watching brief’.

Blatter appeared to attempt to claim last week that FIFA had the latitude to move the event at will, saying 2022 bids were made for a summer event ‘in principle’.

But The Mail on Sunday has established that key paragraphs in the relevant documents never included that phrase, specifying a June or July 2022 World Cup, after a Confederations Cup in June 2021.

A FIFA spokeswoman: ‘The president made this [‘in principle’] comment in an interview situation. His statement was certainly not meant to be a legal explanation.’

Former US attorney for New York, Michael Garcia, is still investigating whether there was any corruption in the 2022 process. ‘He’s not finished yet,’ said a source. ‘There’s no firm conclusion either way.’

Any hard proof that Qatar broke the bidding rules, including colluding over vote swaps, could on its own see them lose the 2022 showpiece.