LONDON: Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has spoken of his concern about an apparent shift in “momentum” towards the 2022 FIFA World Cup being staged in the winter.

The Premier League has been one of the most vociferous opponents of the suggestion that the World Cup could be switched from its traditional June-July slot due to the stifling summer temperatures in the host country, Qatar.

The organisers of the World Cup have repeatedly insisted they are preparing to stage the tournament in the summer, with air-cooling technology set to be used in state-of-the-art stadia.

“Ultimately FIFA will decide, so of course one is worried,” Scudamore said. “We’re not silly. We’re not stupid. We can see that that’s the way the momentum is shifting.”

Last week, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said that he was planning to ask the executive committee of football’s global governing body to consider moving the 2022 tournament to the winter.

FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce has called on the Premier League to drop its  opposition to the proposal.

“A sensible decision has to be made,” Boyce told the BBC. “I would appeal to people in the Premier League. I know Qatar has said they will air-condition the stadiums and I’m sure they will be fantastic but you have to be realistic.

“You’re taking thousands of people, who want to see and enjoy a World Cup, but in temperatures exceeding 50 degrees, that would not be comfortable or healthy for all of those people.”

READ MORE AT:

Friday, July 26, 2013 D.C. United set to end long wait for new stadium D.C. United has moved a major step closer to ending its long-running search for a soccer-specific stadium after the Major League Soccer club and Mayor of the District of Columbia, Vincent Gray, signed a public-private partnership to build a 20,000 to 25,000-seat facility in southwest Washington…. read more Scudamore concerned by momentum shift in Qatar 2022 debate Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has spoken of his concern about an apparent shift in “momentum” towards the 2022 FIFA World Cup being staged in the winter…. read more Man City recruits new global partner Manchester City has announced a three-year global partnership with Hays, making the British company the English Premier League club’s official recruitment partner…. read more Tottenham smartens up its act with Bosideng London Tottenham Hotspur has agreed a two-year commercial partnership with the UK arm of Chinese men’s clothing retailer Bosideng…. read more Fenerbahce tops UEFA’s Europa League revenue payments UEFA has confirmed that it distributed a total of Eur209 million to teams playing in the Europa League last season, but the winner of the competition was eclipsed by another team thanks to better television market pool payments…. read more Prefer your news online? Stopped receiving your usual copy? Click here! Monitoring and evaluating the success of CSR investment Back in Football discuss how to implement a successful corporate social responsibility strategy… The majority of football clubs and organisations have a CSR strategy, some better than the others, but with something as new and under-developed as CSR in sport, it is difficult to judge whether these are effective or not…. read more