Potential temperatures of up to 50 degrees during a summer competition in the Arab state have been a cause for concern for world football's governing body, and UEFA's member associations decided yesterday that it would not be possible to host the tournament in its traditional summertime slot.

Qatar, however, maintains that its innovative plans for cooling systems in World Cup stadiums will be enough to make hosting the tournament in the summer a viable proposition.

"We bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in summer and are fully committed and working hard to deliver on these promises," the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee said in a statement today.

"If the international football community asks us to move the timetable for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar we are able to do so, but the development and implementation of environmentally-friendly cooling technologies remains an important legacy issue for our nation, region and many countries with similar climates."

Qatar, the wealthiest country in the world, has ambitious plans for hosting a summer World Cup, but FIFA is widely-expected to switch the tournament to the winter


FIFA President Sepp Blatter is also concerned about how fans would cope in the extreme summer heat when not in cooled stadiums, but the organising committee insists it has the necessary plans in place to ensure a successful summer World Cup in 2022.

"Creating comfortable conditions for public areas, walkways, training pitches and stadiums both during and after the World Cup means being able to play and watch football matches in summer throughout the country," the statement continued.

"Cooling technology has existed at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium since 2008.

"This June the stadium [in Doha] hosted a FIFA World Cup qualifier in cool and comfortable conditions.

"We are now in the process of developing and perfecting sustainable cooling technologies to ensure that our Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup stadia, training grounds and fan zones offer the optimal temperature for players and fans to enjoy the games."

Despite this statement from Qatar, it still looks unlikely that anything will stop FIFA from principally deciding that the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held in the winter.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
September 2013: Europe offers backing for Qatar winter World Cup