A winter World Cup
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has recently admitted to the Daily Mail that by electing Qatar to host the 2022 could have been a “ mistake”. Soaring temperatures in the Middle East will make it almost impossible to play the tournament in the traditional months of June and July therefore, the first ever winter world cup looks likely. This has caused much heated discussion within the footballing sector.
The wonderful game of football has always been one with traditional views and values and by moving the world cup from summer to winter totally goes against these principles. Since the first ever world cup in 1930 this glorious spectacle has always started in June, as kids in the UK approach the end of school term and as leaves on the trees can be seen to be vibrant green in colour. This is the time all football fans associate with the world cup so why change it now. If FIFA are going to change the characteristics recognisable to the world cup why not, just change everything, like, having the tournament every year instead of every four years or, why not just increase the amount of teams who enter.
With all that said there is an argument that a winter world cup may be beneficial to the game. The basis for this view is a lot of top quality players usually peak in the build up to Christmas. This could mean a better standard of games and ultimately a more competitive and more entertaining tournament for the spectators. At traditional summer world cups players have just finished playing for their respective domestic sides, so at times in the past players have looked exhausted making it impossible for them to be 100% effective.
However, this theory would only work if players saw the world cup to be equally or more important than the competitions they will have already started for their domestic football sides. For instance, if Liverpool get back into the champions League and are, also going for the Championship, for