The 54 member associations came to the conclusion in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, where the Executive Committee is meeting over the course of the next two days.

"What has come out of this meeting is that the World Cup cannot be played in Qatar in the summer," confirmed British FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce.

"Everyone was certainly in agreement about that."

The topic of hosting the 2022 World Cup in the winter due to the scorching temperatures in Qatar during the summer - in which the tournament is traditionally held - has been a point of discussion ever since the Middle Eastern country was awarded the tournament in December 2010.

FIFA are expected to decide in principle to move the 2022 World Cup to winter next month




UEFA are in favour of moving the event to be held in January 2022 to minimise the impact on their Champions League, while the British associations will also hope to protect their regular fixtures over the Christmas period.

"There is still nine years to go and people feel FIFA should sit down with all the major stakeholders and come up with a solution that would cause the minimum disruption to football," continued Boyce.

"There is plenty of time to do that in my opinion, and hopefully football will be the winner."

FIFA are widely-expected to decide in principle to switch the 2022 World Cup to a winter event at their executive committee meeting next month.

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