Qatar won’t host 2022 World Cup?

The 2022 World Cup will not be held in Qatar because of the scorching temperatures in the Middle East country, said Mr  Theo Zwanziger, a member of the Executive Committee of the world football’s governing body FIFA that awarded the tournament to Qatar in 2010.

“I personally think that in the end, the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar,” the German told Sport Bild yesterday.

“Medics say they cannot accept responsibility with a World Cup taking place under these conditions,” the former German football (DFB) chief said. 

Although wealthy Qatar has insisted that a summer World Cup is viable thanks to cooling technologies it is developing for stadiums, training areas and fan zones, there is still widespread concern over the health of the players and visiting supporters.

“They may be able to cool the stadiums but a World Cup does not take place only there,” Mr Zwanziger said.

“Fans from around the world will be coming and travelling in this heat and the first life-threatening case will trigger an investigation by a state prosecutor.

“That is not something that FIFA Exco members want to answer for,” he said.

FIFA officials, contacted by Reuters, said Mr Zwanziger was not giving the view of the all powerful Executive Committee.

“He is expressing a personal opinion and he explicitly says so,” FIFA spokeperson Delia Fischer said. “We will not comment on a personal opinion,” he said.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said last May that awarding the World Cup to Qatar was a ‘mistake’ and the tournament would probably have to be held in the European winter.

“Of course, it was a mistake. You know, one comes across a lot of mistakes in life,” he told Swiss television station RTS in an interview at the time.