Fifa hints 2022 Qatar World Cup could switch seasons

FIFA’s top administrator is open to moving the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to winter if medical evidence showed that matches in the intense summer heat would be dangerous for players’ health.

FIFA has previously insisted that Qatar would have to make the request to move the tournament, while the tiny emirate has placed responsibility on world football’s governing body.

In a sign that the impasse could be ending, FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke says the executive committee could decide on the shift to winter.

Valcke says “maybe the FIFA ex-co will say based on medical report or whatever we really have to look at playing the World Cup not in summer but in winter.”

Temperatures in Qatar exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in June.