Qatar 2022: FIFA president Sepp Blatter pleads for the tournament to be held in winter

"If this World Cup is to become a party for the people, you can't play football in the summer," said Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA (International Federation of Association Football), at a two-day conference on sports, media and economy, organised by Franz Beckenbauer in Going, Austria, on the 17/07/2013.

Blatter was appealing to move the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to winter, in order to avoid the intense summer heat. "You can cool down the stadiums but you can't cool down the whole country," the president added.

In 2010 when Qatar was awarded the competition by FIFA's executive committee, an official report voiced health concerns, but Qatar were named hosts nonetheless.

Blatter, who has repeatedly refused to say if he backed Qatar's bid, insists that it is not too late to change the date of the competition, "there is still enough time. I will bring this up with the executive committee."