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England manager
Fabio Capello has backed calls to play the 2022 World Cup during the
winter, fearing that Qatar’s ferocious heat could force players to
spend weeks cooped up in hotels if the tournament is held in summer.

Capello said that building air conditioned stadiums for the event would not be enough.

“It will not be
easy for the players to stay all day in the hotel, you can’t run around
the hotel,” he told reporters at an event in Dubai on Tuesday.

“It’s a big
problem, not only for the training, you have to spend the time, all the
day in the hotel, you can’t go around to relax, to do something
different.

“When you stay together for long time you need to relax to do something different, not only training or playing,” he added.

“That’s why I think
it would be a good idea to play in January or February.” FIFA president
Sepp Blatter has said he would not object to a January-February World
Cup and UEFA president Michel Platini is also sympathetic to the idea.

On Tuesday, Asian
Soccer Federation president Mohammed Bin Hamman, a Qatari, reiterated
his country’s view that June and July would not be a problem.

“I believe our
country has submitted a bid where they would like to organise and host
the World Cup in June/July and they have actually presented also the
solution for the heat challenges,” he said.

“So our country
actually is ready and willing to host a very comfortable World Cup in
the summer season.” Defending La Liga But he declined to write off the
winter alternative.

“The month of
January is a sort of dead season, most of the leagues in Europe are
suspended, they are not playing during that time,” he said.

“It’s not going to
affect practically, the leagues or the clubs if they played the World
Cup in January.” However, Barcelona president Sandro Rosell said a
January/February tournament would disrupt the Spanish season which does
not have a winter break.

“I have to stand up
for the Spanish league. The World Cup has to be in June, July,” he
said. “I don’t like to break the Spanish league because it’s one of the
leagues in Europe that continues in January”.

Reuters