Real Madrid’s captain Iker Casillas (left) and Brazilian midfielder Kaka pose with the trophy after beating Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 in the Teresa Herrera trophy at Riazor Stadium, in La Coruna, Spain, on Thursday.
MONACO: UEFA president Michel Platini yesterday reiterated his support for shifting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to winter in order to avoid the extreme heat that envelops the Gulf state in summer.
Platini also called on outspoken English opponents of the move to accept the proposal and a change to the Premier League calendar.
Although the 2022 World Cup is currently due to take place during Qatar’s summer, world governing body FIFA has also expressed a desire for the tournament to be moved to a different time of the year when temperatures are cooler.
However, Europe’s major leagues, including the Premier League, are against the idea of a World Cup taking place during the European winter due to the disruption to their calendars that it would create.
FIFA will examine the issue at the next meeting of its executive committee in October.
“I was very happy to learn that FIFA president Joseph Blatter wants to move the 2022 World Cup to the winter, something I’ve long advocated,” Platini said yesterday.
“It’s impossible to play in 50-degree heat in Qatar in the summer.
“We have to play the World Cup at the best time,” Platini said.
“FIFA’s executive committe will take a decision, and should that be to play in winter, then UEFA would suggest what it considers the best period for the month concerned.”
Platini added: “For 150 years, England has imposed its calendar and we’ve respected it.
“So for once, for one month, England could respect another calendar.”
Earlier this month, the chief executive of England’s Premier League said switching the 2022 World Cup to the European winter would be “nigh-on impossible”.
“They (FIFA) decided the World Cup will be in the summer in Qatar,” Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said.
“Our view is, if that is deemed not possible by FIFA, they need to move the location. We can’t just, on a whim, decide to move to the winter.
“It’s extremely difficult, nigh-on impossible in our view,” the Frenchman added. AFP
