Sepp Blatter has said he expects the 2022 World Cup will be staged in winter rather than its traditional June or July slot. “I expect it will be held in the winter. We have time to look at this question, it is still 11 years away but we must decide the most adequate period for a successful World Cup which means January or the end of the year,” said Blatter. With temperatures in Qatar reaching 50°C in the summer months the plan is likely to find favour with the players. The international players’ union FIFPro came out in support of a winter world cup before Christmas.

Qatar’s initial solution hadn’t been to change football’s calendar but rather the environment in which the game was played. The oil-rich emirate intended to build a whole host of newly built, climate-controlled, “flatpack” stadia, but this plan could now be shelved. What are your views? Should the games remain in the summer despite the conditions, or does switching to a more comfortable, albeit non-traditional, winter slot with much more reasonable temperatures make sense?