A German member of the Federation of International Football (FIFA) Executive Committee, Theo Zwanziger claimes on Monday that gulf nations Qatar will be stripped of the 2022 hosting rights due to the scorching heat ravaging the middle-east country
“I personally think that in the end the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar.
“Medics say that they cannot accept responsibility with a World Cup taking place under these conditions,” the former German football (DFB) chief told German paper Bild
Although Qatar is trying to mitigate the harsh conditions with technologies that will see all the World Cup stadia, training areas and fan zone equipped with Air Conditioning system that still has not called off protests, especially from the west
“They may be able to cool the stadiums but a World Cup does not take place only there.
“Fans from around the world will be coming and travelling in this heat and the first life-threatening case will trigger an investigation by a state prosecutor.
“That is not something that Fifa Exco members want to answer for,” Zwanziger told the german paper
International news agency Reuters tried to confirm the position of FIFA EXCO, to ascertain if Zwanziger spoke a consensus thought
When contacted, FIFA officials refuted the Germanโs claim, adding thst he was only speaking his mind and not a general decision
Fifa spokewoman Delia Fischer said: “He is expressing a personal opinion and he explicitly says so.
“We will not comment on a personal opinion.”
Sepp Blatter last may, in an interview with Swiss TV station RTS said it was a mistake awarding Qatar the hosting right and that the tournament would have to be moved towards the European winter period if Qatar would still retain the rights
“Of course, it was a mistake. You know, one comes across a lot of mistakes in life.
“The Qatar technical report indicated clearly that it is too hot in summer, but the executive committee with quite a big majority decided all the same that the tournament would be in Qatar,” Blatter added.
Officials of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) this month had a meeting to discuss the issues hovering around the World Cup and deliberated on shifting the tournament kick off forward or behind the usual June/July calendar
They are proposing a January/February kick-off or November/December kick-off, which has also met opposition from domestic leagues around the world who say it will affect the seasonal calendar.
