Fifa propose €1b club payout to play Qatar World Cup in winter

Fifa president Gianni Infantino visited Qatar to check on progress ahead of the 2022 World Cup to be hosted by the middle-eastern nation and used his time in Doha to address a thorny issue: the compensation payments the world governing body will have stump up to European clubs for interrupting the domestic season. The full cost to Fifa could rise to one billion euros to meet the demands of the clubs, a figure that will include massive insurance cover for all the participating players.

European clubs oppose Fifa dates

The European Club Association (ECA) has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the dates for the World Cup in Qatar, suggesting that the tournament be held between May 5 and June 4, 2022. It has already been decided that the World Cup will not take place as normal in the months of June and July due to the extreme heat in the Persian Gulf at that time of year. However, Qatar’s authorities have rejected the timetable put forward by the ECA, which was not supported by Uefa, because they clash with important religious festivals Ramadan and Eid-al-Fitr.

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World Cup scheduled for November-December

After months of negotiations, Fifa confirmed the Qatar World Cup would be played between November 21 and December 18, 2022, when the temperatures are suitable for playing football. Uefa backed those dates but the main European leagues did not. The European governing body supported Fifa’s proposal to reschedule the European leagues that year: “For the benefit of the players and the fans, Uefa believes the World Cup should be played in November,” the governing body said in a statement.

However, the Association of European Professional Football Leagues, led by the Premier League and LaLiga, are opposed to the November-December tournament as it “will cause great disruption and considerable damage to the normal functioning of European competitions.”