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World players' union threat to 2022 World Cup if played in Qatar summer World players' union threat to 2022 World Cup if played in Qatar summer
(about 3 hours later)
The world players' union, Fifpro, will urge its members to boycott the 2022 World Cup if it is played in Qatar's summer, according to the vice-president. The world players' union will urge its members not to take part in the 2022 World Cup if it is played in Qatar's summer.
"We will not play in the summer in Qatar," Piat, a Frenchman and the only candidate in next week's Fifpro presidential election, said. "Playing in Qatar when it's 45-50C is not serious, and not only for the 22 players. There are others people involved, like the tourists." "We will not play in the summer in Qatar," Fifpro's vice-president Philippe Piat said. "Playing in Qatar when it's 45-50C is not serious, even if they install air conditioning in the stadia.
Football's world governing body, Fifa, has set up a consultation process to decide when the tournament should be played after concerns were expressed about Qatar's fierce heat during the World Cup's traditional June-July slot. "It's not serious and not only for the 22 players. There are other people involved. We have informed Uefa and Fifa that we would not play in the summer. We prefer to make our threat now so they won't be able to say they had not been warned."
The union's general secretary, Theo Van Seggelen, feels there is no plan to support a strike, however. "There is no reason to organise a boycott," he said. "Fifa is looking at the situation and we are working with them to ensure the players' wishes are respected and that our members receive maximum protection."
Fifa has set up a consultation process to decide when the tournament should be played after concerns were expressed about Qatar's fierce heat during the World Cup's traditional June-July slot.
Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup at the expense of bids from the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea. "We could play it in the winter, that would be all right," Piat said.
Sepp Blatter has already paved the way for a winter World Cup after the Fifa president admitted he had not taken the heat problem sufficiently into consideration when the tournament was awarded to Qatar in December 2010. "The World Cup must be a festival of the people. But for it to be such a festival, you can't play football in the summer," he said in July.
Piat also expressed concern about the 2018 World Cup, which will be held in Russia. "There is no freedom of speech and no local players' organisation so it is not easy to discuss with the authorities," he said. "Playing in the summer is also a concern there but we can't really complain about it. But with Qatar, we're reaching another level."
Pait also said clubs should not be allowed to transfer more than one or two players during the January window. "I'm a bit radical so I would say that we should not have a winter transfer window because we want stability for the players' contracts," he added.
"There could be some adjustments, for instance when a player does not play it may be better for him to find another club, or when a club has a player out with injury. So I would limit it to one or two players. We could maintain the January transfer window but with limitations."
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