Qatar 2022 is a mistake says Blatter

FIFA President Joseph Blatter has admitted for the first time that the choice of Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup could be "a mistake ", due to the high temperatures there in June and July.

"We made a mistake", Blatter admitted in an interview with the website 'Insideworldfootball.com', while declaring the solution could be to hold the tournament in winter which would bring chaos to European competitions.

"After many discussions, deliberations and critical review of the entire matter, I came to the conclusion that playing the World Cup in the heat of Qatar's summer – temperatures of over 40 degrees - was simply not a responsible thing to do. That is why I went public and suggested that the FIFA ExCo should review the period when the event shall be staged and see what consequences it would have to play in winter", Blatter added.

The FIFA proposal could be to play the tournament in the month of November, a solution that may be put to the different national federations at the next meeting on October 3rd.

Many dissenting voices have already been heard with regards a possible change of dates, among them those of the powerful Premier League and Bundesliga both of which are completely against a possible stoppage of at least one month during their competitions.


/Marca/