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FIFA
has quashed talk of a winter World Cup in 2022, saying it has no plans
to change the international calendar and that any switch of dates would
have to be proposed by the Qatari hosts.

Qatar has already
said it wants to stage the tournament in the summer as presented in its
bid. “Any potential move of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, from a summer to a
winter period, would have to be initiated by the football association
of Qatar and would have to be presented to the FIFA Executive
Committee,” FIFA said in a statement. “At this stage there are no
concrete plans to change the international match calendar.”

The statement
appeared to mark a U-turn by soccer’s governing body as FIFA president
Sepp Blatter said this month that he expected the tournament to be
staged in the winter. Blatter’s comments echoed those of other leading
figures, including UEFA president Michel Platini, who even suggested
that Qatar could co-host the event with some of its neighbours. But
Mohammed Bin Hammam, the Qatari president of the Asian Football
Confederation, said the 2022 World Cup hosts would resist efforts to
reschedule the tournament. “We submitted a bid suggesting we are going
to be ready in June and July. And we said we are going to face all the
challenges and we are going to meet all the requirements,” Bin Hammam
told Sky News last week. “Our focus is June, July. It is never our
interest to change one week beyond June and July.”

Blatter’s comment
led to suggestions that FIFA was effectively changing the rules as the
contest for the 2022 World Cup, in which Qatar beat Australia, the
United States, Japan and South Korea, was based around a June-July
tournament. U.S. media called for the contest to be staged again if the
tournament was moved from its original spot. Qatar has insisted that
the fierce summer heat will not be a problem as all its stadiums will
be air-conditioned. It has also said the stadiums can be dismantled at
the end and shipped off to developing nations.

However, this has failed to allay fears about the summer weather.
Philipp Lahm, who captained Germany at last year’s World Cup, said it
would be “madness” to stage a summer World Cup in the Middle East and
FIFA’s inspection team said conditions were a potential health hazard
to players and supporters. FIFA executive committee member Chuck
Blazer, who represents the U.S. told Reuters that switching the event
to winter may take 10 weeks out of the international club season and
would “upset the entire football world.”