FA Boss Warning Over Qatar 2022
Updated: 3:36pm UK, Saturday 10 August 2013
Fifa "probably made a mistake" in awarding the World Cup to Qatar for the summer of 2022, according to the FA's new chairman.
Greg Dyke has said staging the tournament in the Middle East country during some of the hottest weeks of the year, when temperatures can reach 50C (122F), would be "impossible".
But Qatar said in a statement that it was the right decision to award it the Finals, and it was ready to stage the event in either summer or winter.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Dyke said he had serious concerns for the safety of football players and supporters if the event was not moved to the winter or taken away from Qatar completely.
He said: "I have a lot of sympathy with the Qataris. They bid for it and they got it. I think the Fifa executive probably made a mistake at that time - we have to live with that.
"The question now is, how do we solve this problem?"
It is the first time the FA has taken a formal position on the controversial issue. Mr Dyke believes a winter World Cup is more likely than Qatar losing the tournament completely.
His predecessor David Bernstein said in June that any plans to move the World Cup to the winter were "fundamentally flawed".
The FA's position could lead to some differences with the Premier League, whose chief executive Richard Scudamore strongly opposes any move to change the World Cup to the winter because it would disrupt domestic club competitions.
Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, has said there is still enough time to switch the tournament to the winter months, when temperatures are significantly cooler but can still reach 30C (86F).
Mr Dyke said: "I don't know how many people have been to Qatar in June. I have. The one thing I can tell you is you can't play a football tournament in Qatar in June.
"Even if all the stadia are air-conditioned - which seems a bit strange in terms of the green policy - it would be impossible for the fans just to go out there, wander around in that sort of heat.
"The FA's position will be you can't play it in summer in Qatar.
"Fifa therefore has two choices; you either move it in time or to another location.
"I suspect that either ends up in some sort of litigation, but then someone should have worked that out in 2010 when it was awarded."
The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee later released a statement saying: "It was the right decision to award the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time in 2022.
"Football is the most popular sport in the Middle East and the people of our region deserve the opportunity to have history made in their part of the world.
"We are committed to delivering on the promises we made in our successful bid.
"We are ready to host in summer or winter. We have always maintained that this issue requires the agreement of the international football community.
"A decision to alter the dates of the 2022 FIFA World Cup would not affect our infrastructure planning."
The final decision on the fate of Qatar's World Cup rests with Fifa, whose executive committee will discuss the matter at its next meeting, in early October.
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