The member countries of European governing body UEFA have supported moving the Qatar 2022 World Cup outside of the summer months.
Speculation has been rife over whether the sport’s governing body, FIFA, will concede it has made a mistake in selecting the country for the Cup.
FIFA’s vice-president Jim Boyce was well aware of the concern that playing in sweltering desert heat would negatively impact on the play and the atmosphere.
Mid-year temperatures in the Gulf can reach 50 degrees Celsius, whereas the average highest temperature in winter is a markedly cooler 24 degrees Celsius.
At a UEFA meeting with 54 member associations, Mr Boyce heeded concerns.
“What has come out of this meeting is an agreement by the UEFA countries that the World Cup cannot be played in Qatar in the summer. Everyone agreed on that,” Boyce told British television.
“But we don’t want FIFA to make a decision yet about when exactly it will be played. We still have nine years to go and we think FIFA needs to help find a solution that will not cause too much disruption.”
For the other countries who bid for the rights to the 2022 Cup, the situation has left a bitter taste in their mouths.
Australia spent $43 million in 2010 in an unsuccessful bid to secure the Cup.
FFA chairman Frank Lowy said Australia’s bid was based on the tournament being played during the European summer and asked FIFA to make an in-principle decision that “just and fair compensation should be paid to those nations that invested many millions, and national prestige, in bidding for a summer event if the tournament is shifted to Qatar’s winter”.
FIFA rebuffed the compensation bid and argued the FFA accepted that the dates of the World Cup were subject to change when it submitted its bid.
Japan, South Korea and the United States, which itself suffers from scorching summer weather in many parts of the country, lost out in the race to host the event.
Proposals to change the date of the tournament have met with opposition from leading European clubs, who are concerned about disruption to their traditional calendars.
Re-scheduling would force a change of the European domestic calendar and clubs and leagues fear they could lose out financially.