LONDON – England coach Fabio Capello said on Wednesday that he believes it would make sense to run the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in January, given the soaring summer temperatures in the Gulf state.
Capello feels that the summer conditions in Qatar would make it difficult to keep players relaxed between matches.
“It will not be easy for the players to stay all day in the hotel – you can’t run around the hotel,” explained the Italian.
“It’s a big problem, not only for the training. You have to spend the time, all the day in the hotel, you can’t go around to relax, to do something different. “When you stay together for a long time you need to relax, to do something different – not only training or playing.
“That’s why I think it would be a good idea to play in January or February.”
Capello added: “The month of January is a sort of dead season, most of the leagues in Europe are suspended, they are not playing during that time.
“It’s not going to affect, practically, the leagues or the clubs if they played the World Cup in January.”
Earlier this month, Qatar were awarded the right to host the 2022 World Cup following a meeting of FIFA’s executive committee in Zurich.
Germany great Franz Beckenbauer, an executive committee member, said the tournament could take place in January – as opposed to June or July – and his suggestion was subsequently backed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
