• But Fifa president says it can still hold event where it pleases
• Warns European countries they can no longer dictate terms
Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, has admitted that it "may well be that we made a mistake" in awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar but underlined his commitment to move the tournament to the winter to avoid the searing summer heat.
The European Clubs Association, a coalition of 207 of the biggest clubs in Europe, is meeting in Geneva on Tuesday to discuss the issue. The organisation's senior vice-president, the Milan director Umberto Gandini, believes it is "almost inevitable" it will have to accept the winter switch.
Blatter has swung from saying that it was for the Qatari World Cup organisers to insist on a switch from summer, when temperatures can reach 50C, to proposing a vote when the Fifa executive board meets on 3 and 4 October on a move in principle.
The Football Association chairman, Greg Dyke, who will meet Fifa next week, has said he also believed it was inevitable that the Qatar World Cup would be moved to winter.
If the ECA accepts the shift, it could leave the Premier League, whose chief executive, Richard Scudamore, met Fifa's general secretary, Jérôme Valcke, in Zurich last week, increasingly isolated in its fervent opposition.
Moving the tournament to winter has huge implications for the professional leagues throughout Europe, for broadcasters and for other sports. The calendar would have to be altered not only for the 2021-22 season but for a season either side to accommodate the tournament.
Blatter, who underlined his belief in Fifa's legal right to move the date of the World Cup according to the hosting agreement, told the Inside World Football website that the governing body should also be open to moving the tournament again in future to open up the possibility of hosting it to the whole world.
"If we maintain, rigidly, the status quo, then a Fifa World Cup can never be played in countries that are south of the equator or indeed near the equator," he said. "We automatically discriminate against countries that have different seasons than we do in Europe. I think it is high time that Europe starts to understand that we do not rule the world any more, and that some former European imperial powers can no longer impress their will on to others in far away places."
The idea of the calendar remaining in permanent flux depending on where the World Cup is held is one that will alarm the leading European clubs, who are likely to accept the Qatar switch only on the basis it is a "one-off".
"I think it's important it's going to be a one-off and is not going to be something that's going to be there for ever," said Gandini. "If we have to find a one-off solution I think we will be able within the football family to find it but everybody has to be properly involved and we have to consider which is the best solution for football and the fans."
The Premier League remains implacably opposed to moving the tournament to winter but fears that opposition from other leagues in Europe is softening.
Senior Fifa sources said it was most likely that the tournament would be played in November and December 2022 rather than January and February of that year in order to avoid clashing with the 2022 Winter Olympics. That would also be likely to suit English football better because the Christmas programme may be unaffected. Reported by guardian.co.uk 8 hours ago.
• Warns European countries they can no longer dictate terms
Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, has admitted that it "may well be that we made a mistake" in awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar but underlined his commitment to move the tournament to the winter to avoid the searing summer heat.
The European Clubs Association, a coalition of 207 of the biggest clubs in Europe, is meeting in Geneva on Tuesday to discuss the issue. The organisation's senior vice-president, the Milan director Umberto Gandini, believes it is "almost inevitable" it will have to accept the winter switch.
Blatter has swung from saying that it was for the Qatari World Cup organisers to insist on a switch from summer, when temperatures can reach 50C, to proposing a vote when the Fifa executive board meets on 3 and 4 October on a move in principle.
The Football Association chairman, Greg Dyke, who will meet Fifa next week, has said he also believed it was inevitable that the Qatar World Cup would be moved to winter.
If the ECA accepts the shift, it could leave the Premier League, whose chief executive, Richard Scudamore, met Fifa's general secretary, Jérôme Valcke, in Zurich last week, increasingly isolated in its fervent opposition.
Moving the tournament to winter has huge implications for the professional leagues throughout Europe, for broadcasters and for other sports. The calendar would have to be altered not only for the 2021-22 season but for a season either side to accommodate the tournament.
Blatter, who underlined his belief in Fifa's legal right to move the date of the World Cup according to the hosting agreement, told the Inside World Football website that the governing body should also be open to moving the tournament again in future to open up the possibility of hosting it to the whole world.
"If we maintain, rigidly, the status quo, then a Fifa World Cup can never be played in countries that are south of the equator or indeed near the equator," he said. "We automatically discriminate against countries that have different seasons than we do in Europe. I think it is high time that Europe starts to understand that we do not rule the world any more, and that some former European imperial powers can no longer impress their will on to others in far away places."
The idea of the calendar remaining in permanent flux depending on where the World Cup is held is one that will alarm the leading European clubs, who are likely to accept the Qatar switch only on the basis it is a "one-off".
"I think it's important it's going to be a one-off and is not going to be something that's going to be there for ever," said Gandini. "If we have to find a one-off solution I think we will be able within the football family to find it but everybody has to be properly involved and we have to consider which is the best solution for football and the fans."
The Premier League remains implacably opposed to moving the tournament to winter but fears that opposition from other leagues in Europe is softening.
Senior Fifa sources said it was most likely that the tournament would be played in November and December 2022 rather than January and February of that year in order to avoid clashing with the 2022 Winter Olympics. That would also be likely to suit English football better because the Christmas programme may be unaffected. Reported by guardian.co.uk 8 hours ago.