The Premier League today blasted proposals to move the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the winter as “neither workable nor desirable” as FIFA announced a decision on the matter will be taken in October.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter yesterday confronted the issue by stating he believed it could not take place in the summer.
The Premier League have long opposed any such move because it will cause major disruption to three domestic seasons — the 2021-22 campaign and the ones either side — as well as impacting on broadcasting contracts.
A Premier League spokesman said: “The Premier League position remains unchanged. The prospect of a winter World Cup is neither workable nor desirable.”
Blatter has been moving towards the idea of a winter World Cup for several months and said yesterday: “You can cool down the stadiums but you can’t cool down the whole country.”
Meanwhile, all World Cups and European Championship matches will remain on free-to-air television in Britain after FIFA and UEFA today lost an appeal at the European Court of Justice.
