A FIFA task force officially recommended the winter dates at a meeting in Doha last month, while the date of the World Cup final has been confirmed by the world governing body's Executive Board as December 18.

The decision was taken to avoid the searing summer temperatures in the Arabian nation, which can exceed 40 degrees, as well as not staging the tournament during the Ramadan months, also had to be taken into consideration.

FIFA were also keen to avoid a potential clash with the 2022 Winter Olympics, due to be held in either Almaty or Beijing.

Both bid cities released their Candidature Files in January, and Almaty and Beijing proposed to hold the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in February 2022.

Despite the many obstacles, the EPFL said at its General Assembly in Barcelona that it is "very disappointed" with the final decision made by FIFA, claiming a preferable solution would be to hold the tournament in May.

"This decision raises serious questions about the motivations of many involved in the decision making process and further demonstrate the lack of good governance within international football governing bodies which are not taking into consideration the interests of the whole football family but solely those of their member associations," read a statement from the EPFL.

"The leagues are the ones directly impacted by this FIFA's decision.

"It is unthinkable that the leagues are not part of the decision making structure concerning competitions' calendar which is one of their core competences."

The EPFL says it "has the responsibility to protect the interest of all clubs", including those that do not release players for FIFA competitions ©Getty Images




FIFA has recently announced that football clubs which supply squad members for teams qualifying for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups can look forward to a significantly increased pot of $209 million (£140 million/€193 million) per tournament.

The big increase in club distributions was agreed as part of an extension of a collaboration agreement between FIFA and the European Club Association (ECA) which has been signed by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, secretary general Jérôme Valcke and ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

FIFA said the agreement "includes provisions governing adherence to the international match calendar until 2018, and to the effect that the international match calendar for the following period (2019-2022) will be based on the same principles as the one currently applicable".

The timing of the World Cup will necessitate a substantial re-scheduling of the traditional European club season, with FIFA stating earlier this week that a working group would meet "in due course" to finalise the international match calendar for the 2019-2022 cycle.

"There is still a great deal of work to be done seeking to lessen the very severe damage that the decision causes", the EPFL state.

"In particular the need to tackle several issues such as the international match calendar 2018-2022, the leagues' ability to continue playing their domestic competitions during the World Cup as an option, the contractual agreement between clubs and players during such period and the impact on the leagues' commercial interests, among others."

The Khalifa Stadium in Doha will be one of the 2022 World Cup venues ©ITG




EPFL says it is "ready to support any legal actions that individual leagues may undertake in this respect in the near future" and insists it "has the responsibility to protect the interest of all clubs including those that do not release players for the national associations' competitions".  

Despite the ongoing debate over the scheduling, Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, secretary general of the Qatar Olympic Committee, said Qatar is ready to organise the event for whenever FIFA requires it.

"Qatar is ready to organise the events at any time," he told insidethegames.

"So it's up to the FIFA to choose the dates that they want and for us we're ready for any time.

"This is the message that I got from the Organising Committee."

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