2022 World Cup: German legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge offers new idea on Qatar tournament

Former skipper of West Germany Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has outlined his reasons why he believes the 2022 World Cup in Qatar should be held in April and May.

His comments come after Sky Sports News HQ revealed last Friday that Europe’s top clubs want the event to be staged during spring.

Since FIFA awarded the competition to the Middle East nation in December 2010, there has been much discussion, opinion and speculation on when the event should be held due to conditions in Qatar.

The European leagues are concerned that the date of the tournament could disrupt domestic competition.

The best option would be to start the World Cup at the end of April, finishing in May

However, temperatures are at their hottest during the traditional European summer – when the tournament is normally played – and FIFA will meet in Zurich next week to discuss when the Qatar World Cup should be held.

The 59-year-old Rummenigge, who played in the World Cup finals of 1982 and 1986, and is currently chief executive of German giants Bayern Munich, thinks the competition could run from late April until the end of May.

He told The Times: "At the moment, there are two proposals on the table: the FIFA proposal in November and the UEFA proposal in January.

"Our proposal is a bit different. We will publish that in the next few days.

"We have made some research and the outcome of this research is that the best option would be to start the World Cup at the end of April, finishing in May.

"It's still hot but it would be something like 35 degrees maximum. If you then play in the evening, let's say 7pm and 9.30pm, then 9.30pm (in Qatar) is 7.30pm in central Europe, and 6.30pm in the UK.

"From all points of view that's no problem. We will bring this option to the table to discuss at the FIFA task force on November 3."