Michel Platini has set himself on a collision course with Europe’s major clubs by insisting the 2022 World Cup must be played in the winter and offering to reschedule the Champions League to accommodate the switch.
The Uefa president, one of 14 Fifa executive committee members who controversially voted for Qatar in December 2010, said a solution was “not so far” away and offered to move the climactic stages of the Champions League to facilitate a winter World Cup.
“As the president of the confederation I have no problem … because it is not a problem for the competition of the Champions League, we can move the dates in 2022 and have two semi-finals and the final in June, so that is not a problem.”
Ever since the vote the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, appeared to be preparing the ground to move the tournament to November 2022 to avoid summer temperatures that regularly top 50 degrees.
But facing a backlash from US broadcasters, the major European leagues and other sports he promised to set up a task force to consult properly on the matter.
Following a meeting in Zurich earlier this week Fifa’s general secretary, Jérôme Valcke, said January/February and November/December 2022 remained the most likely options despite the European leagues and biggest clubs proposing a compromise that would see the tournament take place in April or May.
“It’ll never be in April, May or June. It will be in winter,” Platini told the BBC in a separate interview. “It’s not the clubs that are playing, it’s the players and it’s not possible to play in May when it’s 40 degrees.”
Platini has previously favoured January, though it would clash with the 2022 Winter Olympics, as November would disrupt the Champions League group stages. On a visit to the National Football Centre at St George’s Park, at which he held talks with the Football Association chairman, Greg Dyke, he said a November tournament would also cause problems for the international calendar.
“Everybody speaks about the clubs and the leagues but, if it is in November and December, then you lose six dates of the national teams. But we are not so far away with Fifa. We are not so far from a good solution.”
A November 2022 tournament seems by far the most likely option, causing upheaval to the domestic football calendar for three seasons. A final decision is expected in March next year.
Platini’s links with Qatar have come under scrutiny since he admitted to attending a meeting with the then French president and the now Qatari Emir before the vote. His son also works for a sportswear firm owned by QSI, the Qatari investment arm that also owns Paris Saint-Germain.
Platini has repeatedly said the decision was his alone and made for footballing reasons. At St George’s Park he again defended his decision to vote for the tiny Emirate, which poured unprecedented sums into a campaign that has been under scrutiny ever since. “It’s not regrettable for me. I don’t regret voting for Qatar,” he said.Platini also rejected the suggestion that the credibility of the tournament had been damaged by awarding it Qatar.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I’ve always said that I hope it will be in Qatar in winter. A lot of people voted for Qatar, not only me.”
He reiterated his belief that it was time that the tournament was played in the middle east.
“The Arabic people, seven times they lose the World Cup. It was time to give them the World Cup. I am for that. It’s my conviction.”
