FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce has backed winter World Cup in Qatar
Tuesday 24 February 2015 11:08, UK
FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce has backed the recommendation to play the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in November and December, but says a final on December 23 is "too close to Christmas".
A FIFA task force announced its recommendation for a "late November to late December" winter World Cup following a meeting in Doha, and also said that the tournament should be shortened.
The recommendations will be taken to FIFA's executive committee meeting in Zurich on March 19 and 20 for a final decision on the dates.
Boyce, from Northern Ireland, said moving the World Cup to the winter was a "common sense" decision but that a final on December 23, which is reportedly one of the options, would have an impact on the traditional festive matches.
He said: "I think that is too close to Christmas - that's the only reservation I would have and I would like it a week earlier, but I want to wait until the FIFA executive committee meeting to hear all the details about the dates.
"I welcome the fact all the stakeholders have been involved and although this is not going to please everyone I think common sense has prevailed.
"It will cause a lot of disruption but it is eight years away and people should have enough time to make it work."
The task force recommended a shorter tournament in November and December after January/February was ruled out because of the Winter Olympics and Ramadan made April unavailable, while the climate issues blocked the World Cup being played between May and September.
A FIFA statement also said the task force was exploring the option of staging the Confederations Cup in another Asian confederation country during the traditional June/July window in 2021, and using another FIFA competition such as the Club World Cup as the operational test event for Qatar in November/December 2021.
