Fifa considers winter World Cup in 2022

The chances of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar being held in winter have risen after Fifa's general secretary gave qualified backing to the idea. The move would mean the Premier League and other European leagues altering the traditional format of the August-May season. Franz Beckenbauer, a member of the Fifa executive that awarded the Gulf state the tournament, has already proposed that the finals be shifted to January and February as summer temperatures can pass 40C. Fifa's general secretary Jerome Valcke says it would be possible although "not so easy" to stage a winter World Cup since it would require changing the international calendar and getting the support of domestic leagues and national confederations. He added it was Qatar's decision alone on whether to expand the tournament to other parts of the Gulf, as suggested last week by Fifa's president Sepp Blatter.