The Qatari, who is also the president of the Asian Football
Confederation, has repeatedly said that he wants the World Cup to be in the
summer months. But on Thursday, Bin Hammam softened his stance.
“I'm not opposed but I'm not proposing,” Bin Hammam said,
adding that any discussion should not take place until after 2018, when Russia
will host the World Cup.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has supported moving the
tournament to avoid the searing heat in Qatar, and several other top football
executives in Europe have agreed.
FIFA executive committee member Franz Beckenbauer was the
first to suggest the idea, and he was followed by UEFA President Michel
Platini. Blatter said it was worth studying and FIFPro, which represents
professional football players worldwide, said the event “must be held in
winter.” But the big football clubs remain unconvinced. They are reluctant to
change the international calendar and are concerned over a loss of revenue from
breaking up the season.
Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup last month despite
concerns over temperatures which routinely exceed 40 degrees C (104 degrees F).
Soon after it beat out the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea, a
growing list of football executives began calling for moving the tournament to
January when it is much cooler in Qatar.
On Thursday, FIFA put out a statement reiterating that there
were not yet any plans to move the tournament.
“At this stage, there are no concrete plans to change the
international match calendar,” the statement said. “Any potential move of the
2022 FIFA World Cup from a summer to a winter period would have to be initiated
by the football association of Qatar and would have to be presented to the FIFA
executive committee.” FIFA has said that Qatar has not requested a date change
and a spokesman for the bid said it will not make any comment until after an
organizing committee is formed in the coming weeks.
In December, Bin Hammam told a football conference that it
would benefit players to move the tournament to January. He said a winter World
Cup would ensure players would be in better shape and wouldn't be exhausted
after completing a grueling season.
But last week, he told Sky News that Qatar would be “ready
in June, July and we said we are going to face all the challenges and we are
going to meet all the requirement. Our focus is June, July.” Bin Hammam, who is
considering a possible run for the FIFA presidency, also told Sky that he
sympathizes with the European clubs which would be hit hardest by a change.
After attending a children's football tournament in Doha on
Thursday, Bin Hammam said he found it strange that there was so much attention
being given to the 2022 World Cup when there are several other tournaments in
the next decade.
“It's
quite bizarre,” he said. “The World Cup 2014 is just three years from today and
no one is speaking about it. It's quite uncomfortable for me.”
