Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has welcomed FIFA's decision to host the 2022 World Cup in winter instead of its traditional summer schedule.
A FIFA task force has recommended that the 2022 World Cup due to be held in Qatar be staged in the winter due to the searing heat the Middle Eastern nation's summer, as the heat could be unbearable for the players as well as the attending fans.
Wenger believes that since for most of the stakeholders in football the game is part of their daily routine, whether the World Cup is held in summer or winter it will not make much of a difference.
“I’m already [spending] every day of my life for a football game, so it’s no problem for me”, Wenger was quoted as saying by the club site at a press conference.
The winter scheduling of the quadrennial event will play havoc with most of the European domestic leagues including the English Premier League, but Wenger feels that rescheduling the league season will not be too big a task.
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“I don’t think it will impact too much if you have to reorganise the Premier League.”
In the Frenchman’s opinion, it is ultimately the success of the World Cup that matters the most, and its success cannot be ensured if it is held in the Qatari summer.
"I just think always that if a World Cup is successful, that is very important because it’s a world festival basically for football and it has to be organised in decent conditions, which would not be the case in the summer.
Wenger expressed his pleasure at the winter scheduling insisting that if the World Cup is indeed to be held in the Middle Eastern state, then it had better be organised in the winter.
“I’m personally glad that if we play the World Cup in Qatar, it is not during the summer, because I would be concerned for the safety of people who attend there.
“That’s why I think it was the only sensible decision to make.”
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