Scudamore’s World Cup warning

 
AP
29 July 2013

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore is seething at the prospect of a winter World Cup in 2022 but will not back legal action against FIFA.

It seems certain that although Qatar insist they can provide acceptable conditions for a summer event, the heat will be too extreme.

Switching to a winter tournament would take two months — including preparation time — out of the season but, although Europe’s big five leagues are against the move, Scudamore is adamant they must not go down the legal route.

“I wouldn’t go there,” he said. “That is far too contentious really; taking on the world governing body. We will do our lobbying but it is far too premature to be talking about legal action.”

Scudamore points out that the heat problem was obvious before the voting, adding: “The idea the technical committee did not know people were going to be exposed to that heat is crazy.

“The issue should have been thrashed out around the discussion table. If the Qataris are unable to host a proper tournament in the summer, they shouldn’t have been awarded it. That is my simple view.

“If you can’t fulfil the criteria, you should take it somewhere that can.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in