Did the heat not factor in their decision, or were they too busy rubbing money over themselves to care at the time

It'll be interesting. Theoretically the players should be at the peak of their fitness mid-season so it could in fact make for a better tournament. And England won't have the 'winter break' excuse if/when they fail. I don't see it as a massive problem tbh, though it will probably result in the domestic season finishing in June/July.

bloodred

For me the WC is june/july, would it be the same spectical mid season? What if your players pick up injuries or their fitness/form is affected club wise?

Fitness/form will happen in summer as well. It is just people being pedantic, if the temperature is going to be at 35-40°c minimum in summer then something obviously has to give. Recently the Russian PL only played a half season in order to place their season in tandem with the other European leagues I.e. August to May instead of a season that's nearer a calendar year. Sometimes things like this are necessary..

For me the biggest downside of it is that it will change the whole atomsphere. The WC for me has always coincided with BBQs and scorching weather whilst watching the England games. It won't be the same in winter.

But as far as the player's fitness is concerned, I don't see it as a major problem. Though it would probably put the very top teams with a squad of internationals, such as ourselves, at a slight disadvantage come the end of the season, it's something that we can deal with.

"Fitness/form will happen in summer as well"

It will, but at least you get some break inbetween domestic and international

So would it be moved to the winter before or the one after?

Would have thought after, but no idea tbh

Would be a huge disruption to the transfer window if they set it in January

Sign them at half time

"The WC for me has always coincided with BBQs and scorching weather"


You been watching them in Spain or something?

Did wonder about that comment myself

remember 06 being hot though

Wasn't USA 94 in a similar climate? Who could forget Jack Charlton's rants because they won't allow the players to drink. The WC should be in the summer. The Qatarians have promised special A/C stadiums and should be told to build these.

Of course they won't actually be fully A/C but some sort of mechanism to keep the supporters cool.

Outside the stadium it will be hot but no different what people normally do when they go on there holidays.

It would be wrong to move it to winter. Qatar won the bid to stage the world cup with one of the criteria that it be played in June/July. Clearly they cannot meet the criteria, therefore they should not have been considered as part of the bidding process.

How will the other countries that tendered bids react when they all met the criteria, but weren't awarded the tournament because it was judged Qatar met all the criteria better than the rest?

If it's moved to winter I could see a situation where all the losing bidders for 2022 take legal action against FIFA.

Ultimately, this could break FIFA. Many major nations will be in the middle of their seasons. If enough of the major nations don't want any serious disruption to their leagues, they could stand together and decide not to enter a team for the tournament. What would FIFA do then?