2022 WC will not take place in Qatar: FIFA’s Zwanziger
23 Sep 2014 10:33 PM GMT
‘I think that at the end of the day the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar,’ Zwanziger said in an interview with Sport Bild Plus. The former head of the German football federation (DFB) cited high summer temperatures as the reason Qatar would lose the right to host football’s global showpiece.
‘As Mr Zwanziger himself says, it’s his personal opinion,’ a FIFA spokesman responded to AFP subsidiary SID when asked about the German’s statement. Zwanziger said: ‘Doctors say, and I had insisted on this point in the protocol, that they cannot guarantee that a World Cup can be held in summer in these conditions.’ While Qatar has reportedly developed stadium cooling systems, Zwanziger said ‘the WC involves not only stadia. There are fans coming from all corners of the world who will be concerned by the heat’.
But in an interview with Die Welt newspaper, Hassan al-Thawadi, secretary-general of the Qatar 2022 organising committee, declared himself ‘sure the 2022 WC would take place in Qatar’. ‘No, I’m not worried. Firstly because there’s no basis to lose the World Cup. Secondly, because it’s the first WC in Middle East. When people think of this region, it’s rather in terms of conflict. The World Cup will be an occasion to unite peoples. It will leave a positive heritage,’ he said. Controversy has plagued FIFA’s awarding of the World Cup to Qatar in 2010, with summer temperatures in the Gulf emirate reaching the upper-40s Celsius.
‘As Mr Zwanziger himself says, it’s his personal opinion,’ a FIFA spokesman responded to AFP subsidiary SID when asked about the German’s statement. Zwanziger said: ‘Doctors say, and I had insisted on this point in the protocol, that they cannot guarantee that a World Cup can be held in summer in these conditions.’ While Qatar has reportedly developed stadium cooling systems, Zwanziger said ‘the WC involves not only stadia. There are fans coming from all corners of the world who will be concerned by the heat’.
But in an interview with Die Welt newspaper, Hassan al-Thawadi, secretary-general of the Qatar 2022 organising committee, declared himself ‘sure the 2022 WC would take place in Qatar’. ‘No, I’m not worried. Firstly because there’s no basis to lose the World Cup. Secondly, because it’s the first WC in Middle East. When people think of this region, it’s rather in terms of conflict. The World Cup will be an occasion to unite peoples. It will leave a positive heritage,’ he said. Controversy has plagued FIFA’s awarding of the World Cup to Qatar in 2010, with summer temperatures in the Gulf emirate reaching the upper-40s Celsius.
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