World Cup

Michel Platini: Qatar World Cup "will be in winter"

By Joe Fish, Reporter | 05 November 2014

UEFA president Michel Platini insists that the 2022 Qatar World Cup must be played in winter and is willing to push back the Champions League final to accommodate a change.

UEFA president Michel Platini has insisted that there is no option but to play the 2022 Qatar World Cup in winter.

FIFA has been warned that hosting the tournament in the summer months as usual will put players' health at risk due to temperatures which exceed 40 degrees celsius.

Suggestions to move it have been met with opposition from many clubs, but Platini has stressed that they will have to accept any decision that is made.

He also revealed that UEFA would be willing to push the Champions League semi-finals and final back to June in order to accommodate a winter World Cup.

"It'll never be in April, May or June. It will be in winter," he told BBC Sport. "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.

"As president of UEFA, I have no problem whether it's in November, December, January or February. I have no problem. For the competition of the Champions League, we have no problem.

"Your clubs in England, your league (the Premier League) has a problem... but we have to find a compromise. Everybody has to lose something but in the end I think winter will be a good date."

A taskforce set up to look into this issue will present FIFA with its preferred solution in March 2015.