The 2022 World Cup in Qatar should take place in November and December, a Fifa taskforce has recommended.
Key football officials met in Doha to discuss a number
of options following fears a summer event would endanger the health of
players and fans.
Summer temperatures in Qatar can exceed 40C while those in November and December drop to around 25C.
Tuesday's recommendation is expected to be ratified by Fifa's executive committee in Zurich on 19 and 20 March.
Taskforce chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa
also recommended that the 2022 tournament should be shortened by a few
days.
There has already been speculation that the tournament could start on 26 November and end on 23 December.
However, Fifa has already said there are no plans to reduce the size of the tournament from 32 teams or 64 matches.
Why was November-December chosen?
The other dates under consideration were May and January-February.
In a statement, Fifa said a number of options had been discussed but felt that November-December was the best one because:
- The two bidding cities for the 2022 Winter Olympics -
Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Beijing (China) - plan to hold the event from
4-20 February, 2022
- The month of Ramadan begins on 2 April in 2022
- And that consistently hot conditions prevail from May to September in the Gulf state
The statement continued: "The only remaining effective option is the November-December window."
The Qatar Foundation stadium in the capital Doha is being designed to seat 40,000
Sheikh Salman added: "We are very pleased that, after
careful consideration of the various opinions and detailed discussions
with all stakeholders, we have identified what we believe to be the best
solution for the 2018-2024 international match calendar and football in
general.
"It was a challenging task and I want to thank all
members of the football community for their productive input and
constructiveness in helping to find a solution that we believe can work
for everyone."
What will happen now?
BBC Radio 5 live's sports news reporter Richard Conway
said Europe's leading leagues and clubs had wanted the tournament moved
to May but had "lost this argument".
However, he indicated the row over dates would rumble on.
"It's not not the end of the story by a long way, but
organisers in Qatar will be hopeful that this is the start perhaps of
building and planning for the 2022 World Cup for real," he added.
What will impact be on British domestic game?
English football's Premier League strongly opposed a
winter tournament given the disruption it would cause to the title
run-in and the hole it would create in the schedules of its broadcast
partners.
A World Cup in November and December also affects the
Football League, the FA Cup and League Cup with the domestic season in
England running from August to May.
A recent statement from the Premier League said: "The
2022 World Cup was bid for and awarded to Qatar as a summer tournament.
"The prospect of a winter World Cup is neither workable nor desirable for European domestic football."
League and cup competitions in Scotland may also face
disruption, regardless of whether the national team qualifies for the
tournament with players being called up for other international teams.
Wales and Northern Ireland's leagues are less likely to
be affected with the vast majority of their players non internationals.
Peter Coates, chairman of English Premier League side Stoke City, described the situation as a "disaster".
He told BBC Radio 5 live: "The only saving grace is that we don't have to think about it for a long time.
"The planning will go on and it will be incredibly difficult. It couldn't be more disruptive. It couldn't be more messy."
The news will upset some of Europe's other top leagues,
who preferred an April-May option to minimise disruption to their
domestic programmes.
What are winter temperatures like in Qatar?
Average temperatures in November are around 29C,
dropping to around 25C by mid-December, slightly cooler than the 35C
averages in May.
Tournament organisers had planned to use air-cooling
technology they claimed would lower temperatures within grounds to
about 23C.
