Doha: The FIFA task force looking into dates for the Qatar World Cup has recommended a shorter tournament to be staged in November and December 2022, the head of the Asian Football Confederation told reporters on Tuesday.
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa said all options would be reviewed at the FIFA meeting next month, when the recommendation is expected to be ratified by the executive committee of world soccer's governing body.
"Some people have concerns, but whatever decision you're going to take will have some questions about it," Sheikh Salman said after a meeting of the task force.
"But... we need to look at the overall benefit of everybody," he added, following a task force meeting which lasted about an hour, concluding earlier than expected by organizers.
There are no plans to reduce the size of the tournament from 32 teams or 64 matches, but the tournament would be shortened by a matter of days.
A FIFA statement said the task force delegates saw the late November-December option as the "most viable period" for the event.
The working group was exploring the option of staging the FIFA Confederations Cup -- traditionally a World Cup rehearsal
in another AFC country during the normal June-July period, and instead using the FIFA Club World Cup as an operational test for Qatar in November/December 2021, said the statement.
During Tuesday's meeting a number of options had been explored including pushing the cup to early 2023, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke told reporters.
"There is one solution that is coming out of this discussion which is November-December 2022... I'm not saying that its the best but we don't touch any of the qualification competitions," he said.
If ratified in Zurich in March, the recommendations will set FIFA on a collision course with major European soccer leagues who prefer an April-May option to minimise disruption to their lucrative domestic programmes.
However Ramadan falls in April, and May is deemed too hot to stage the competition, according to a graphic FIFA issued as part of their statement. The graphic also showed a clash with the Winter Olympics were January-February 2022 to be selected, and legal issues ruling out January-February 2023 dates.
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