Nine years 'plenty of time' to prepare for winter World Cup, FIFA VP claims

The vice-president of FIFA, Jim Boyce, has told the Premier League it would have more than enough time to prepare for a winter World Cup in Qatar.

With concerns about temperatures in the summer of 2022 going north of 50 degrees in Qatar, a number of the game’s leading figures have called for a switch to the winter.

The Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Scudamore, is not one of them, though, claiming a switch would have a three-year knock-on effect for his competition.

But a day after new Football Association chairman Greg Dyke spoke of moving to a cooler time of year, Boyce has given his view.

“I fully understand the Premier League but I would hope that in nine years’ time – it’s not next year or the following – that for the good of football people can sit down and realise a sensible decision has to be made,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek.

“Most of the opposition appears to be coming from the Premier League. There are many European countries who cannot play in the winter and do have a winter break.

“I read the Premier League are saying this impacts on three seasons. If people sit down and work out the calendar properly, I don’t see why it would affect three seasons.

“The Premier League is probably the biggest in the world but this is nine years hence.”

Boyce was keen to add that any move had not been formally discussed by FIFA’s Executive Committee, which has two remaining meetings this year.

The Northern Ireland native added his personal preference would be for the tournament to be held from January 6 to February 9.

His primary concern matches that of Dyke, who on Friday 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.”

Boyce concurred, adding: “The situation is the World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the calendar and the situation in Qatar is the temperature exceeds, at times, 50 degrees.

“I ask the question from a health and medical point of view. How can you take thousands of people to the greatest sporting event in the world and ask them to enjoy themselves in conditions I think are impossible?”

Alex Horne, General Secretary of the FA added that any move would involve a “big jigsaw” with far-reaching consequences, while the Premier League has yet to respond to the latest comments.

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas does not envisage too many problems, though, saying yesterday: “If it is summer, they have to do something different, but at the moment I think a winter World Cup is absolutely fine. It is something which FIFA has to answer.”