There has been much talk over when the 2022 World Cup will be played due to the searing heats in Qatar's summer months.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), claimed last year that the event will likely be held in November or December in order to avoid a conflict with the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, after initial talks that it could be held in January or February.

A FIFA taskforce, later set up to examine the options for the staging of the 2022 World Cup in the Gulf State, held its first meeting in Zurich in September at which the dates of January and February and November and December were put forward as alternatives to the traditional time slot of June and July.

Top European clubs feel that the tournament should remain in the summer, however, in order to avoid conflict with football league fixtures and the latter stages of the Champions League.

Suggestions were made by Chile's Harold Mayne-Nicholls to host the event in May through to June but with matches played after midnight in order to refrain from playing in the soaring afternoon temperatures.

There has been much controversy over when the FIFA World Cup would be staged in 2022 due to the searing heats in Qatar during the summer months ©Getty Images



Speaking during a tour of the Football Association's training base at St George's Park in England, Platini went against the suggestions of these European clubs, however, claiming that "It'll [the World Cup] never be in April, May or June - It will be in winter."

Talking to the BBC, he added: "As President of UEFA, I have no problem whether it's in November, December, January or February.

"I have no problem.

"For the competition of the Champions League, we have no problem.

"Your clubs in England, your league [the Premier League] has a problem... but we have to find a compromise.

"Everybody has to lose something but in the end I think winter will be a good date.

"It will not be in April, it will not be in May or June or July or September.

"It will be November, December or January."

Despite talk of the World Cup being moved to January or February, IOC President Thomas Bach is confident that FIFA will keep its promise and ensure the tournament does not clash with the 2022 Winter Games ©Getty Images



Although talk of a tournament in January or February is still one being looked at closely by FIFA, IOC President Thomas Bach told insidethegames exclusively on Monday (November 3) that he was confident FIFA will stick to its promise and ensure the World Cup does not clash with the Winter Games.

Bach was talking at a time when the FIFA taskforce was holding its second meeting in Zurich in which it is believed a move to January and February is favoured, however.

Despite this, IOC vice-president and President of the World Anti-Doping Agency Sir Craig Reedie told reporters at the Doha GOALS Forum here that, in his view, "there's no doubt" that the World Cup and Winter Games will not clash.

"Thomas Bach and Sepp Blatter have met and agreed there will not be a clash," he said.

"We have a much, much narrower window in the Winter Games in 2022 if you look at the two candidate cities we have.

"We can't do it in March, [we will] probably have to do 16 days at the end of February and I'm sure the agreement is that football will abide by that.

"And so they should because you don't want two of the biggest sporting events in the world clashing."

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