Qatar 2022 winter World Cup ‘a done deal’

Construction of a stadium in the desert of Qatar on December 16, 2013. Philip Lange/Shutterstock

By Aileen Graef
Friday, February 20, 2015

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DOHA, Qatar, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- FIFA is expected to officially announce it will move the 2022 Qatar World Cup from the normal summer to a winter schedule to avoid dangerous Qatari heat.

The decision to put the World Cup in Qatar has been met with controversy because the temperatures reach unsafe highs for the players to perform safely. There have been also accusations of corruption and bribery among the bidders for the World Cup. Qatar and Russia were both cleared of bribery accusations by FIFA -- an organization thought to be strife with corruption itself.

As it is considered too late to move the Cup, officials at FIFA have been considering alternatives. The easiest alternative is too move the games to the winter. If the games move to the winter it will collide with other winter sports and will force the clubs to move all of their regularly scheduled games ahead of the tournament.

UEFA president Michel Platini mentioned in November he would be willing to move the European championships to cater to a winter World Cup.

The final decision will be made in Zurich in March.

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