Sir Dave Richards discusses prospect of winter World Cup in 2022 in Qatar

The prospect of a winter World Cup in 2022 would appear to have increased as some of the key governing bodies soften their opposition to the idea.

UEFA president Michel Platini has long advocated moving the event from the Qatari summer, and now both FIFA and the Premier league appear to be coming round to the idea.

Jim Boyce, Britain's FIFA vice-president from Northern Ireland, hinted that moving the tournament might be a sensible idea and now Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards has suggested that a compromise may be the best solution.

Speaking to Sky Sports News HD at the Securing Sport conference in Qatar, Richards said: "I think they will play the World Cup at a time that is proper for football but they will have to speak to the leagues in Europe.

"They will have to agree proper times when we can start and finish. At the moment it has a tremendous amount of implications for Europe. For us, at this minute, the answer is 'no'.

"But, if we take a proper view, we have to find a way to have a winter spell where we don't play and I think common sense will prevail.

"We've got FIFA now saying that medical people are saying that they can't play in Qatar in the summer because of the heat, which is probably right.

"I think over the next few years, things will change and they will come to a compromise."

The Premier League have stressed that they are still opposed to the tournament being moved from the summer.

A statement read: "We are opposed to the concept of a winter World Cup for very obvious practical reasons that would impact on all of European domestic football."

The international calendar has yet to be fixed beyond 2018, so there is scope for the world governing body to adjust their schedules.

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