Decision to change 2022 World Cup delayed until 2015
A decision on whether to switch the Qatar 2022 World Cup to the cooler winter months has been postponed until early in 2015, the head of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said.
Global organising body FIFA had previously said that a resolution to move the tournament from summer would be made by the end of this year.
"There are a lot of partners that we need to sit and talk with and find the best solution and I am sure this decision will not be taken before the first quarter of 2015,” Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, president of the AFC, said.
"The decision is to look at the possibilities of the timing, as we speak now it is still June/July but the aim of this task force is to look at the other options and the concerns that some will have," Sheikh Salman added.
Qatar was awarded the rights to host football’s most prestigious event in a 2010 vote.
The Bahraini national defended Qatar’s record on its treatment of overseas workers, which has come in for stinging criticism, with reports showing that hundreds of labourers have died working on infrastructure projects in the country.
"I think because of the World Cup, this issue is being addressed and looked at," he said.
"I am sure that the government of Qatar is co-operating positively in that sense. The best thing the World Cup is doing now is trying to improve the working conditions in Qatar. If it wasn't for the World Cup I'm not sure we would have heard of this issue," Sheikh Salman added.
