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Touchline • Issue 17 • 29
Summer to winter
When the World Cup was first awarded to Qatar, the first
question raised was the suitability of holding a summer
tournament in a country where the top temperature can be
well above 50 degrees during the day. The answer was that
the new stadia would be air conditioned.
After some thought, it seems that FIFA realized that while
you may be able to air condition a stadium, you cannot air
condition a whole country. There are not just the matches to
consider: players need to train and supporters need to travel
to and from the matches.
In response, Sepp Blatter came out and almost casually
stated that FIFA was considering moving the tournament
from summer to winter.
The various football leagues of Europe thrashed about,
wondering how they would schedule their matches. The
Winter Olympics would clash with a winter World Cup, and
television adverstisers have been wondering how this would
impact on them.
The decision to move the tournament has been derided
around the world, former German football federation
president Theo Zwanziger summing up the general decision
as “one of the biggest mistakes ever made in sport.”
Blatter’s flip-flop came after it was conceded that the space-
aged, $200 billion air conditioning system would not be
feasible. In July last year, he came out and said “if this World
Cup is to become a party for the people, you can’t play
football in the summer. You can cool down the stadiums, but
you can’t cool down the country.”
In November, he followed up this assertion with this
statement: “Naturally, when it would be possible to play in
another date, for the World Cup and for Qatar, it would be
better.”
When the decision was made back in late 2010, the bid was
made on hosting a summer world cup: a fact that must be
galling for the losing nations of Australia, USA, Japan and
South Korea.
The potential switch has spooked the winter sports
federations. In early November, The international skiing
federation (FIS) came out with a statement claiming that “FIS
will submit a proposal to the other six International Winter
Sports Federations to sign a resolution against organizing
the World Cup during the winter sports season in 2022.”
Rene Fasel, head of the Association of International Olympic
Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF) is also cautious. “For the
moment I keep cool,” Fasel said. “We will see what really
will be the decision in FIFA, how Qatar will react and which
position there will be.”
He fears an advertising drain and a hit to the ratings of winter
sports should the World Cup be held in winter. But he spoke
SUMMER TO WINTER
You can cool down
the stadiums, but
you can’t cool
down the country.”
© MARCELLO CASAL JR. / ABR, 2007