It seems a foregone conclusion the 2022 tournament will be a winter event…
When will the 2022 tournament take place?
A FIFA task force recommended the ideal timescale for the tournament would be between late November and late December 2022.
There were some reports yesterday, that have since been confirmed by Jerome Valcke, that federations were keen on a December 23rd finish date.
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A summer tournament is now taking place in the winter?
The bid for a Qatar World Cup was always presented as a summer event but ever since the tournament was awarded to the gulf state there has been an underlying debate over whether it should actually be held in the winter months due to the supreme heat of the Qatari summer.
Temperatures could reach as high as 50C during the usual World Cup months of play and this point was raised in a FIFA inspection report that said it would be of high risk to players and fans in these extreme conditions.
The organisers had originally claimed they could counteract this issue with futuristic sounding air-conditioned stadiums a claim which turned out to be very false indeed.
November and December have now been billed as the only viable time period with the opening months of 2023 ruled out due to legal reasons requiring the tournament to be staged in the 2022 calendar year.
(Click through the pages to read about Concessions, Objections, Broadcasters, And Future Effect)
Concessions:
The only allowance FIFA have given is that the 2022 tournament will be slightly shorter than previous events.
There could also be scope to reduce the number of international friendlies in the calendar year as well as demands of a shorter predatory period to the tournament.
Objections:
European clubs seem to be objecting most to the proposed change as FIFA voted for the tournament explicitly as a summer event and as it’s the case that they have gone back on their re-mit, there should be a revote.
Broadcasters:
Most broadcasters will likely not care when the World Cup takes places due to the commercial revenue it brings.
Interestingly, the main broadcasters of South America and the US, Fox and Telemundo, were both firmly against the move to a winter tournament as it would impact on an already stocked up calendar and would see audience figures likely affected due to clashing with other sport
Strangely, or perhaps not if you’re as cynical as we are, both Fox and Telemundo both received TV rights extensions to 2026 without so much as a bidding process.
Affects on world football:
In England, the Premier League’s winter fixture list would be frankly impossible now and it may even affect the Football League’s ability to complete their hectic programme in time.
It was calculated by a former head of the Chilean FA that around 50 leagues in the World could be affected by the Qatar World Cup due to the required changes in the calendars of 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The African Cup of Nations in 2022 would also likely be moved to the middle of the year.
Next steps:
FIFA is almost certain to ratify these recommendations at its next summit in March whilst the majority of European leagues will no doubt voice their objections but go unheard or at least placated.
But given that UEFA, with Michel Platini in particular, is so supportive of the tournament it’s hard to see any way European clubs can further object.
That is unless they take the option of individually pulling out of FIFA and cause fractions and effectively a civil war to break out which could see the emergence of a separate football governing body. But that seems the most unlikely and desperate option available.