Blatter discusses re-scheduled World Cup

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Tuesday that the 2022 FIFA World Cup could take place at the beginning or the end of the year.

Since Qatar won the rights to host the event in December, debate has centred on the possibility of moving the tournament from the middle of the year to January in order to avoid the oppressive heat in the desert state.

However, a proposed change to the timing of the 2022 tournament would wreak havoc with fixtures across several of Europe’s leagues.

Nevertheless, Blatter remains open to the idea of hosting the quadrennial event outside of the usual June/July period.

“For FIFA, if there’s the will to change something for the international calendar for one year, it’s possible to do, because if there’s a will, there’s also a solution,” Blatter told reporters.

“But for now, there are the pros and cons but it is premature to make any decisions on what may happen but all I am saying is that winter is not only January and February, winter is also the end of the year.”