Outgoing Fifa executive committee member Theo Zwanziger says that Qatar should be stripped off its rights to host the World Cup 2022 amidst allegations of corruption and a potential winter World Cup. FIFA awarded Qatar the rights to host this World Cup despite being aware of the extreme climates in the region.
It was only after awarding the tournament that Fifa realised the problems that would hamper normal World Cup schedule. The extreme heat during the months of June and July mean that it is almost impossible for Qatar to host the World Cup without making substantial changes to its infrastructure.
The nation has promised to make the stadium is fully air-conditioned in order to allow the players to play even in the simmering heat. Fifa, though, recently has accepted the request to shift the World Cup towards a winter schedule. This would be a major hamper for major European leagues. Even though a winter break exists in most top European leagues like Spain and Germany, England does not have a winter break. On the other hand, countries from South America have long been suffering as a result of the summer break since the league campaign goes on in these countries during the World Cup.
“The best solution would be not to play in Qatar and to rectify this wrong awarding. But that can only happen if the report provides sufficient clues that the awarding broke Fifa ethics rules. Qatar was not suitable to host such a World Cup for a number of reasons. One has to tell candidates [for World Cups[ that sports, football, the clubs and Fifa, they all represent values that we expect to be observed,” said Zwanziger, who will be stepping down from his post at Fifa in the month of May. Qatar has also been criticised for the way it has been treating its temporary workers involved in the World Cup preparations.