Asian Football Confederation head Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim
Al-Khalifa told reporters in Doha on Tuesday that those dates would
be put to FIFA's executive committee to be ratified next month.
It is a move sure to set world soccer's governing body on a
collision course with the major European leagues which would prefer
an April-May option to minimize disruption to their lucrative
domestic programs.
"Some people have concerns, but whatever decision you're going to
take will have some questions about it," Sheikh Salman said after an
unexpectedly brief meeting of the Task Force.
"But... we need to look at the overall benefit of everybody," he
added, following the hour-long gathering.
Soccer World Cups have always been staged over May, June and July
since the first in Uruguay in 1930.
The latest a final has been contested was July 30 -- in Uruguay in
1930 and England in 1966. The earliest final was played out on June
10 in 1934.
June and July are not viable for Qatar, where temperatures routinely
exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), and the working
group's proposals would see the 2022 World Cup final contested a
couple of days before Christmas.
There are no plans to reduce the size of the tournament from 32
teams or 64 matches, but the plan is for the competition to be
shortened by a matter of days.
"MOST VIABLE PERIOD"
A FIFA statement said the Task Force delegates saw the late
November-December option as the "most viable period".
The working group was also exploring the option of staging the FIFA
Confederations Cup -- traditionally a World Cup rehearsal -- in
another AFC country during the June-July period, and instead using
the FIFA Club World Cup as an operational test for Qatar in
November/December 2021.
During Tuesday's meeting a number of options had been explored
including pushing the cup to early 2023, FIFA secretary general
Jerome Valcke told reporters.
"There is one solution that is coming out of this discussion which
is November-December 2022... I'm not saying that it's the best but
we don't touch any of the qualification competitions," he said.
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If ratified in Zurich in March, the recommendations are sure to
upset the European leagues, despite European soccer's governing body
saying on Tuesday it supports the task force's choice.
"UEFA believes that, for the benefits of players and fans, the event
should be played in winter," the European body said.
"UEFA sees no major issues in rescheduling its competitions for the
2022/23 season."
The domestic leagues are unlikely to be so gracious or
accommodating.
The November-December option targets the coolest months, and avoids
a clash with Ramadan and with the Winter Olympics which are slated
for January-February 2022.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the meeting, Hassan Al
Thawadi, the Gulf state's 2022 Committee chief, said Qatar was on
track to complete all projects related to the event and is ready to
accept the final decision from FIFA with regards to the timing.
"We are committed to whatever the World Cup committee decides and we
will deliver an amazing World Cup," he said.
"There are five stadiums at different stages of construction, the
infrastructure work is ongoing... it is seven years (away) but I'm
very confident in saying that we are actually on track," al-Thawdi
added, noting that the budget was also "on track".
(Editing by Ossian Shine and Ed Osmond)
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