FIFA to Discuss Qatar World Cup Switch, Brazil 2014

(ATR) Discussions over a winter switch for the Qatar World Cup, Brazil 2014 preparations and Russia’s anti-gay law are among the key agenda items for the FIFA Executive Committee convening in Zurich.

The 27-member panel meets today and tomorrow; the Qatar World Cup is the hot-button issue. Reports of workforce exploitation in the gas-rich Gulf state will also form part of discussions.

After admitting in recent months that a summer World Cup in Qatar is unfeasible due to the country’s searing June & July temperatures, FIFA president Sepp Blatter will try to persuade the 27-member ExCo panel to decide in principle to move the 2022 tournament to winter.

Qatar's bid for a summer World Cup promised air conditioned stadia and fan areas to protect players and visitors from the 50 degrees Celsius temperatures. But the campaign to move it to the winter, led by influential figures including UEFA chief Michel Platini and backed by FIFA’s top medical official, has forced FIFA to reconsider when it should be staged.

Platini and several other FIFA officials claim a period of consultation is needed with stakeholders – leagues, clubs, national associations and players – before the switch to winter is rubberstamped.

Platini, a likely candidate for the FIFA presidency in 2015, warned that it would be "impossible" to make any decision at this week’s ExCo. FIFA vice president Jim Boyce and new ExCo member Sunil Gulati are also reportedly in favor of postponing the decision.

Thailand’s Worawi Makudi also backs Platini’s stance. "We try to make the right decision, don’t worry. I would like to hear all the information," he tells Around the Rings.

"I think it is a quite a good idea to listen to all stakeholders and then make the decision," he added.

The month of November seems most likely if FIFA eventually decides to move the 2022 tournament to avoid a clash with the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, as well as domestic football leagues.

IOC president Thomas Bach last week said he was confident FIFA’s showpiece tournament in Qatar would not clash with the 2022 Games.

Also part of FIFA’s agenda item listed as "sports-political matters" are reports of workforce exploitation linked to Qatar World Cup projects. Around 70 construction workers from Nepal have died since the start of 2012, including 15 this year, the Nepalese government announced this week.

Both Qatar issues will be discussed on Friday.

Ahead of those discussions come a series of updates on preparations for FIFA’s various tournaments.Most notable will be FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke’s assessment of Brazil’s preparations for the 2014 World Cup.

Six stadia are scheduled to be finished by a Dec. 31 deadline. Several of these may not be completed by end ofyear.Valcke’s report is expected to include mention of the tight timetable ahead for completion of venues and transport infrastructure.

Progress on Russia’s 2018 World Cup will also come under scrutiny.

However, it’s Russia’s anti-gay law that has been creating headaches for FIFA chiefs, who have sought clarifications about how the law will impact players and visitors to the tournament.Russia's sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who also heads the 2018 World Cup committee, is an ExCo member.

An update on FIFA’s reforms process, kickstarted in summer 2011 after the corruption-hit 2018/2022 World Cup bidding race and allegations of bribery in the FIFA presidential contest, will be given by Chinese ExCo official Zhang Jilong.

Recommendations from FIFA’s Independent Governance Committee (IGC), chaired by Mark Pieth and including a vote on whether to set age and term limits for the president and ExCo members, have been postponed until the 2014 FIFA Congress.

In November, the ICG will conduct its final meeting to evaluate the measures and actions taken by FIFA since its May congress.

The next meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee will be held in Salvador de Bahia on Dec. 4 and 5. The Brazil World Cup draw takes place in the city the following day.

Reported by Mark Bisson.

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