FIFA to delay vote on 2022 winter switch

Although the executive committee could agree in principle to move the dates,FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce said it should not rush into a decision.

Despite widespread speculation that FIFA will vote to switch the dates of the 2022 World Cup on Friday,soccers world governing body will probably delay making a decision and instead set up a task force to analyse the huge implications of moving the tournament from the searing heat of the Middle East summer.

Although the executive committee could agree in principle to move the dates of the World Cup,FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce told Reuters it should not rush into a decision and he wanted a task force set up to examine the issue.

We will discuss when the World Cup will be held and also consider the plight of immigrant workers in Qatar whose harsh living and working conditions made headlines last week, he said.

In a development related to the vexed situation regarding the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 finals to Qatar on the same day in December 2010,Michael Garcia,the head of the investigative unit of FIFA ethics committee,will tour all the countries involved in the bidding processes,he was quoted as saying in France Football on Tuesday.

Garcia,a former US Attorney in New York,is examining allegations of corruption in the voting that led to the awarding of the two World Cups. A highly-placed FIFA source said it now had to grapple with a huge political,social and financial problem of its own making.

This is because the executive committee members who awarded the finals to Qatar in December 2010 ignored recommendations from FIFAs own inspection report group that ranked Qatar second from bottom among the five contenders. They should never have chosen Qatar. It was flawed from day one.

Boyce,who joined the executive committee six months after the vote was taken,said: I dont think there is any possibility of a decision being taken about moving the World Cup this week.

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What should happen next is that all the stakeholders,the major clubs from around the world,the major leagues,TV rights holders,sponsors,everyone needs to get around the table and have their say.

Although UEFAs 54 members have agreed it would be best to move the World Cup away from the summer,all the implications need to be studied in detail. The World Cup is still nine years away,we have plenty of time.