Moving World Cup - to suit Qatar climate

listermint

As below, possibility of moving world cup to January to accomadate the climate of Qatar

Thoughts?

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/world-cup-2022-to-be-held-in-winter-2487869.html

Friday January 07 2011

FIFA president Sepp Blatter expects the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to be held in January.

The game's showpiece is traditionally held in the northern hemisphere's summer but the stifling heat in the Middle East at that time of year has led to calls for a rethink.

And Blatter, speaking at the launch of the Asian Cup in Doha, told reporters: "I expect it will be held in the winter.

"We have time to look at this question, it is still 11 years away but we must decide the most adequate period for a successful World Cup which means January or the end of the year."

FIFA's executive committee opted to take the World Cup to Qatar, ahead of more favoured nations Australia and the United States, in December, having also decided to stage the 2018 tournament in Russia.

Concerns regarding the conditions were initially tempered by the promise of air-conditioned stadiums and training venues but Blatter now believes FIFA could change tack for the well-being of the players.

He added: "Do not forget there is still 11 years to go and although we have the basic conditions of their bid for a June and July World Cup, the FIFA executive committee is entitled to change anything that was in the bid.

"When you play football you have to protect the main people, the players."

Any change to the world calendar would play havoc with domestic schedules, especially in Europe where the majority of leagues play through the winter.

Blatter has denied previously that FIFA were motivated by money in taking the tournament to Qatar.

He said last month: "If we wanted to make money, we would have gone to the United States and not this country.

"I understand that it may seem surprising, but we must not forget that they are making efforts and they have already hosted FIFA competitions."

He continued: "With Qatar, we are opening football to a new world and a new culture.

"The Arab world has tried several times, with Morocco and Egypt for example, to host the World Cup."


Press Association

listermint

mod please edit my terrible spelling - Title

The_Kew_Tour

A complete Joke

Jax Teller

It's a joke , why didn't they work this out before they voted on it ?

Ridiculous.

ironbluedun

great idea by that footballing master Sepp blatter

listermint

I dont see how this is going to be rectified with the individual FA's and the competitions that they are running concurrently.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Its ridiculous but it absolutely has to be done.
I was listening to some Irish guy who lives out there now on RTE, and he was saying how you cant even go outside during the day its so hot. He was saying its hotter than a sauna some days. The players wouldn't be able to train during the day and the fans wouldn't be able to do anything either. And even with the air-conditioned stadiums it would still be around 30 degrees in there. Also it would be a nightmare q-ing (cant spell that word!) for the mid-day games. I reckon if it was held during the day some idiotic would get themselves killed by staying out in the sun too long too.
Besides, it would good for the standard of football if was held in January too, the English wouldn't be able to blame fatigue then. Also, the only major league it would greatly affect would be the PL, most other leagues have either finished or are on a break.

Helix

THFC wrote: »

Its ridiculous but it absolutely has to be done.
I was listening to some Irish guy who lives out there now on RTE, and he was saying how you cant even go outside during the day its so hot. He was saying its hotter than a sauna some days. The players wouldn't be able to train during the day and the fans wouldn't be able to do anything either. And even with the air-conditioned stadiums it would still be around 30 degrees in there. Also it would be a nightmare q-ing (cant spell that word!) for the mid-day games. I reckon if was held during the day some idiotic would get themselves killed by staying out in the sun too long too.
Besides, it would good for the standard of football if was held in January too, the English wouldn't be able to blem fatigue then. Also, the only major league it would greatly affect would be the PL, most other leagues have either finished or are on a break.

it didnt have to be done... quatar shouldnt have gotten the world cup

simple as that

and as for it not affecting any leagues... the world cup runs for about a month, countries need to play friendlies in advance of it and generally players will join up 4 weeks before the tournament. it'll bring club football to a stop for AT LEAST 6 weeks, and at that the countries will be moaning they didnt have enough preparation time

shambles

PHB

Let's see what the clubs, who actually pay the players, think about it

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Helix wrote: »

it didnt have to be done... quatar shouldnt have gotten the world cup

simple as that

and as for it not affecting any leagues... the world cup runs for about a month, countries need to play friendlies in advance of it and generally players will join up 4 weeks before the tournament. it'll bring club football to a stop for AT LEAST 6 weeks, and at that the countries will be moaning they didnt have enough preparation time

shambles

I fully agree that they shouldn't have gotten it. When I first heard they were in the running I thought why not, but then I didn't know anything about the country. Now that they have it though, it seems to be the only option. A summer WC in that heat is out of the question.
If it were up to me they wouldn't have it, but we all know Blatter won't take it away from them at this stage.

The Muppet

listermint wrote: »

mod please edit my terrible spelling - Title

You can edit that yourself using the edit post function.

ArmaniJeanss

Whatever about the rights and wrongs of Qatar getting the world cup, I don't see any huge reason why any World Cup has to be played from mid June to mid July.

If you insist on those months then you are effectively saying that huge swathes of the World can never host a World Cup, which seems morally wrong.

Mitch Connor

Personally, I reckon the 2022 WC will be used by Blatter and Fifa as a vehicle to move the entire football world to a summer calendar.

Reckon we could end up seeing football move to a Mid March to November calendar. Meaning December, January and Feb would become the off season months - WC could be played in January (with the same basic break as the current WC format would have).

I think Blatter has spoken about a harmonisation of the football calendar before, with a summer game being the goal.

Don't know if it will actually happen long term. Moving the calendar in such a way would have benefits in a number of countries - avoiding the winger and game postponements, while reducing the impact the ACN and Asian Cups have but it would cause problems for the WC and Euro Champs, football at the Olympics would also take a hammering as it would occur with 2/3 months left in the football season and not in pre-season. On the other hand, the Fifa Club World Cup would make a big step towards being an end of season highlight for competing clubs and not a mid season annoyance.

Just to clarify, I don't think it is a particularly good idea - and it would present many problems for most of european football, but I think it is something FIFA are going to attempt to do.

listermint

The Muppet wrote: »

You can edit that yourself using the edit post function.

can you edit titles?

Thought you could only edit thread content.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

listermint wrote: »

can you edit titles?

Thought you could only edit thread content.

I think you have to click on go advance to do that.

BaZmO*

Unbelievable but hardly surprising.

Scary temperatures during June/July

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar#Climate

I'd love to see how they try and working it with all the FA's

Also, apparently part of the bid was that most, if not all, of the stadiums are to be packed up and shipped to Africa (or some developing country) once the WC is over. Crazy stuff. If those countries need the Stadiums that bad well then they should've been allowed to host the WC in the forst place.

gosplan

PHB wrote: »

Let's see what the clubs, who actually pay the players, think about it

Pretty sure it'd be fine.

Why would Arsenal, for example, have a problem with losing RVP, Chamakh, Arshavin, Bendtner, Walcott, Nasri, Fabregas, Wilshire, Song, Clichy, Gibbs, Sagna, Djourou and Fabianski for the entire christmas period?



Seriously though, if FIFA go ahead with this, it will tear the fragile bond between club and country apart. They have really really got themselves in a pickle with the awarding of this world cup.

Mitch Connor

based on current rumours - i reckon Fergie might be more amenable to the idea than most other top level managers....

stovelid

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I don't see any huge reason why any World Cup has to be played from mid June to mid July.

A lot of players are not playing for their clubs at this time.

And it stops even more players coming back banjaxed and tired from tournaments in the middle of a season.

Things like this - as said - are moving us closer and closer to the obsolescence of international football.

HalloweenJack

Helix wrote: »

it'll bring club football to a stop for AT LEAST 6 weeks

No, just European football and even some of these already have winter breaks, Germany and Ukraine spring to mind.

Argentina is the only South American league that runs during the Northern hemisphere winter, even then there's no games during January. All others run from March/April to November/early December.

MLS, J-League, K-League all run during the Northern Hemisphere summer, as do the Russian and Scandinavian leagues (apart from Denmark).

All those leagues have to accommodate for the World Cup when its held during the Northern Hemisphere summer.

What's so bad about switching it around for once and making the big European leagues change their calendar for once? Especially when its for their own players safety. It makes perfect sense to me. After all, its called the World Cup, not the European Cup.

Frisbee

HalloweenJack wrote: »

What's so bad about switching it around for once and making the big European leagues change their calendar for once? Especially when its for their own players safety. It makes perfect sense to me. After all, its called the World Cup, not the European Cup.

The majority of the worlds best players play in the European Leagues, obviously it makes more sense to suit them than those playing in the K-League etc.

holidaysong

I don't see the problem with this at all. In fact, if we manage to qualify for this tournament then it'll be a far better tournament for us. I'd rather our players playing in 20 degree heat in January than 40 degree heat in July. Does nobody remember how much the weather affected our team in USA'94? Especially in the game against Mexico, when they were so much used to the climate than us.

Also, we already have a March - November season in this country so it's not going to affect our league one bit. In fact, it'll mean we won't have clashes between league games and World Cup matches on TV (like we did this year).

Boo hoo if it clashes with English Premier League scheduling. Does anyone outside of England and the English media actually care? Nearly all countries in Europe that do use a winter season take a winter break (as do competitions like the Champions League and the Europa League). In 2022 they can just work their break around the World Cup. No big deal.

OhNoYouDidn't

Frisbee wrote: »

The majority of the worlds best players play in the European Leagues, obviously it makes more sense to suit them than those playing in the K-League etc.

But you have missed his core point. The majority of teams who will be giving up players will not be playing at the time that they are talking about moving the World Cup to. A handful of European leagues being inconvienced is not a valid reason not to look at this, especially seeing as a number of clubs are put out every other four years.


Yet again, the inability of the average boards.ie poster to see beyond England shines through.

inforfun

It is still 11 years from now.
In 2022 it is possible to move Qatar in the summer to a more suitable climate for playing football.

You read it here first.

I really dont think it should be held in Qatar in the first place, only for other reasons.
But i cant give a f*ck if it is played in january or in july if it is going to be played there.
If it is in january, it will be just like the ACN.
I am just glad it isnt held in a country so far a way in timezones that the matches are in the night/morning here in Europe, like in 2002.
That must have been the WC i saw the fewest matches and i have been seeing WC's from 1978 onwards.

HalloweenJack

Frisbee wrote: »

The majority of the worlds best players play in the European Leagues, obviously it makes more sense to suit them than those playing in the K-League etc.

But if the country qualifies, the league has to take a back seat so there might not be dozens of players from the Swedish, Japanese, Korean or Colombia leagues but if those countries qualify, their league has to be set aside for the World Cup.

Even if Ireland doesn't qualify for the World Cup or the Euros, the LOI takes a two week break for the group stages of both those tournaments.

Frisbee

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

But you have missed his core point. The majority of teams who will be giving up players will not be playing at the time that they are talking about moving the World Cup to. A handful of European leagues being inconvienced is not a valid reason not to look at this, especially seeing as a number of clubs are put out every other four years.


Yet again, the inability of the average boards.ie poster to see beyond England shines through.

It's not a case of incoveniencing a 'handful of European Leagues'.

Some leagues (Serie A, La Liga) take a winter break, true, but that's not even going to come close to covering the WC.

If the WC started on January 1st it would end around Feb 3rd./4th. On top of that countries are going to want players for about 3 weeks before the tournament, which means you're coming close to halting domestic football in the worlds top leagues for close to two months.

La Liga/Serie A etc will lose out on a month of football.
The EPL will lose out on two months of football in it's busiest period.
Then you also have to push back domestic cup competitions, Champions League and Europa League.

This is all assumnig that as soon as the WC is over players return to their clubs and get playing again straight away, which doesn't happen. Players who play generally get/need two weeks off after and those that make the semi's/final get a month or so.

So you have Uniteds/Arsenals/Inters/Madrids/Barca/Bayern's 2022 equivelant of Rooney/Fabregas/Sneijder/Ronaldo/Messi/Schweinsteiger missing out on at least two weeks of football after the tournament ends, for some of them anywhere up to a month. Missing vital league and CL games.

Sure you could push back the starting date until March, but that means you are halting domestic football for three months. Which would mean playing close to 6 months worth of matches in the 2.5 months from March to Mid-May.

Push the league finish back to June you say? Sounds like a good idea, except players will only be leaving the club for the summer before they are called back for pre-season.

So as you see, it will effect all of Europe's top leagues, not just boards.ie's 'blinkered view of all football as taking place in England' as the massive chip on your shoulder in any thread shows.

miralize

I think its about time a country in the middle east got a major international sporting event..

Unfortunately along with that comes the weather that is the norm in those places. No other way around it unfortunately

BaZmO*

miralize wrote: »

I think its about time a country in the middle east got a major international sporting event..

Unfortunately along with that comes the weather that is the norm in those places. No other way around it unfortunately

Do you honestly think that Qatar were given the World Cup in the interest of fairness?

PARKHEAD67

listermint wrote: »

As below, possibility of moving world cup to January to accomadate the climate of Qatar

Thoughts?

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/world-cup-2022-to-be-held-in-winter-2487869.html

Lots of brown envelopes going around Id say.Qatar???? FFS. Oil rich+wealthy so paying off FIFA execs Id imagine.(its hardly coz of qatars great football history)Not too unlike property developers and fianna fail not so long ago in our fabulous country.BTW isnt being gay illegal in Qatar. A bloody disgrace of a decision. How Russia(oil rich +wealthy-the few at the top);) got the next world cup ahead of England smacks of bribery too.

miralize

BaZmO* wrote: »

Do you honestly think that Qatar were given the World Cup in the interest of fairness?

No but the are one of the few countries with the resources to pull off such an event in the Middle East

zAbbo

It's 12 years away, I'm sure most of you ragers will have mellowed out a little by then and will be looking forward to settling down with a nice cup of tea to watch the games

OhNoYouDidn't

Frisbee wrote: »

It's not a case of incoveniencing a 'handful of European Leagues'.

Some leagues (Serie A, La Liga) take a winter break, true, but that's not even going to come close to covering the WC.

If the WC started on January 1st it would end around Feb 3rd./4th. On top of that countries are going to want players for about 3 weeks before the tournament, which means you're coming close to halting domestic football in the worlds top leagues for close to two months.

La Liga/Serie A etc will lose out on a month of football.
The EPL will lose out on two months of football in it's busiest period.
Then you also have to push back domestic cup competitions, Champions League and Europa League.

This is all assumnig that as soon as the WC is over players return to their clubs and get playing again straight away, which doesn't happen. Players who play generally get/need two weeks off after and those that make the semi's/final get a month or so.

So you have Uniteds/Arsenals/Inters/Madrids/Barca/Bayern's 2022 equivelant of Rooney/Fabregas/Sneijder/Ronaldo/Messi/Schweinsteiger missing out on at least two weeks of football after the tournament ends, for some of them anywhere up to a month. Missing vital league and CL games.

Sure you could push back the starting date until March, but that means you are halting domestic football for three months. Which would mean playing close to 6 months worth of matches in the 2.5 months from March to Mid-May.

Push the league finish back to June you say? Sounds like a good idea, except players will only be leaving the club for the summer before they are called back for pre-season.

So as you see, it will effect all of Europe's top leagues, not just boards.ie's 'blinkered view of all football as taking place in England' as the massive chip on your shoulder in any thread shows.

But a huge number of leagues already have to put themselves on the back burner, across Europe, South America, Africa and Asia in the manner in which you state above. Why should they be inconvienienced every 4 years and a handful of European leagues be sacrosanct? Winter football is now in the minority globally.

Its the WORLD Cup.

listermint

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

But a huge number of leagues already have to put themselves on the back burner, across Europe, South America, Africa and Asia in the manner in which you state above. Why should they be inconvienienced every 4 years and a handful of European leagues be sacrosanct? Winter football is now in the minority globally.

Its the WORLD Cup.

Because all off these leagues bring in more revenue than any others you have mentioned.....

OhNoYouDidn't

listermint wrote: »

Because all off these leagues bring in more revenue than any others you have mentioned.....

And they will continue to do so. Money won't be lost because the EPL takes a 4 week break.

fkiely

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

But a huge number of leagues already have to put themselves on the back burner, across Europe, South America, Africa and Asia in the manner in which you state above. Why should they be inconvienienced every 4 years and a handful of European leagues be sacrosanct? Winter football is now in the minority globally.

Its the WORLD Cup.

Considering the vast majority of the players taking part (safe enough assumption considering more than 2/3 of the players in the last World Cup) are based in European leagues, surely it's more beneficial to host it at a time that suits them?

Bodhisopha

But what about the super magical totally awesome fully air conditioned outdoor stadiums?

ColmDawson

listermint wrote: »

Because all off these leagues bring in more revenue than any others you have mentioned.....

And play a higher standard of football.

And are home to a greater number of players who are likely to play in a World Cup.

PARKHEAD67

zAbbo wrote: »

It's 12 years away, I'm sure most of you ragers will have mellowed out a little by then and will be looking forward to settling down with a nice cup of tea to watch the games

Its sick and proves that uefa are taking backhanders. Qatar?? An effing desert? In the winter? Blatters on the take.BIG TIME.Why not England? Look at the stadia in England? ANd include Celtic Park and Ibrox into the fold.Theres a proper World Cup.

OhNoYouDidn't

fkiely wrote: »

Considering the vast majority of the players taking part (safe enough assumption considering more than 2/3 of the players in the last World Cup) are based in European leagues, surely it's more beneficial to host it at a time that suits them?

And most European leagues will be on winter break at the time....

In fact, the only league who will be providing any significant amount of players to the WC that will be forced to take a break will be the English one.

HalloweenJack

Somewhat relevant, the African Cup of Nations is played in January/February every two years.

Just out of curiosity, how do the top European leagues, France in particular, cope for the rest of the season? Drogba was top scorer in the EPL last season and he played in it.

JPA

A winter WC will throw all the leagues out of sync and it will take about 2 years to recover, nevermind the players themselves.

token56

Not sure if its a good idea of not but really dont see this happening. For one thing Sky will be kicking up a major fuss over this if it is ever to happen. The matches played over the winter in the EPL are probably some of the most valuable to them. Given both the sheer number of games and the likely hood of people to watch them, i.e. the games taking place over a winter holiday season. If this is replaced by the world cup Sky misses out on alot of revenue the way I see it as the world cup is general free to air in most countries. Maybe this logic is flawed.

I know Sky is just one broadcaster but they dont just show the EPL. I dont know maybe they wouldn't have as big an influence as I'm giving them credit for.

killwill

Bodhisopha wrote: »

But what about the super magical totally awesome fully air conditioned outdoor stadiums?

What about overwight, beer drinking fans collapsing because of the heat outside the stadiums?

OhNoYouDidn't

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Its sick and proves that uefa are taking backhanders. Qatar?? An effing desert? In the winter? Blatters on the take.BIG TIME.Why not England? Look at the stadia in England? ANd include Celtic Park and Ibrox into the fold.Theres a proper World Cup.

UEFA?

If you are going to throw wild allegations around, at least get the name of the organisation you are calling corrupt right

OhNoYouDidn't

JPA wrote: »

A winter WC will throw all the leagues out of sync and it will take about 2 years to recover, nevermind the players themselves.

No it won't. Read the thread ffs.

Frisbee

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

In fact, the only league who will be providing any significant amount of players to the WC that will be forced to take a break will be the English one.

No they won't, players will be away from their clubs for almost two months.

3 weeks before for friendlies/training camps.
4 weeks of the tournament.

And that's not including any post-WC breaks.

Show me one of the top leagues in Europe that takes a two month break in winter.

Plus as you've said the other leagues (Asia, S. America etc) have to do it every four years. Exactly, so they're used to it and can set out their fixtures accordingly. You'll be changing everyone by doing it.

N. Hemisphere - Effecting their leagues.
S. Hemisphere - Effecting their summer breaks.

Whereas if you leave the WC in June you're only effecting one party.

JPA

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

No it won't. Read the thread ffs.

Eh? Teams and players will need 6 to 8 weeks to prepare and recover for the WC, the major leagues of Europe take a break for a max 3 weeks.

Dempsey

I've no problem with it being hosted in January

Other leagues around the world have to shutdown for the World Cup in the past, time for European Leagues to accommodate for a change

At least the English cant complain about fatigue when the 'underperform' again

adrian522

Where does this leave the European Cup and/or WC Qualification. Assuming the WC takes place in January 2022, will the Euros still take place in June 2020. That will leave only 18 months to play out the WC qualification and you usually want that wrapped up 6 months before the World Cup so you are going to have to find additional international days for that season as well as interrupting the season for 2 months. This will also have a knock on impact on the domestic Euro competitions.

Warper

Since it is on in Qatar they had no choice but to move the time of the WC. It is simply too hot in the summer. So what if Leagues are disrupted for a month or 2, no big deal.