FIFA quashes talk of winter World Cup

Berne: FIFA has quashed talk of a winter World Cup in 2022, saying it has no plans to change the international calendar and that any switch of dates would have to be proposed by the Qatari hosts.

Qatar also said it was going ahead with organising the tournament in the summer as presented in its bid. "Any potential move of the 2022 FIFA World Cup from a summer to a winter period would have to be initiated by the football association of Qatar and would have to be presented to the FIFA Executive Committee," FIFA said in a statement."At this stage there are no concrete plans to change the international match calendar." The statement appeared to mark a U-turn by soccer`s governing body as FIFA president Sepp Blatter said this month that he expected the tournament to be staged in the winter.Blatter`s comments echoed those of other leading figures including UEFA president Michel Platini, who even suggested that Qatar could co-host the event with some of its neighbours. Bureau Report