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Blatter begs for winter SWC

Going - FIFA president Sepp Blatter has emphasised on Wednesday that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar would only be possible if it took place in winter, saying "where there's a will there's a way."

"The World Cup should be a folk's festival.

"Qatar is a small country, but if it's supposed to be a folk's festival, then the football cannot be played in the summer," the head of football's world ruling body said at the Camp Beckenbauer in Going, Austria.

"You can cool the stadiums but you cannot cool the entire country."

Blatter, who for a long time was sceptical of having the football spectacle during the winter, said the FIFA executive committee is able to change the timing of the World Cup.

"We must protect our partners, our advertising partners, our television partners.

"We have to remain steadfast."

The FIFA boss also addressed the concern about a World Cup change meaning Europe's top leagues would have to change their schedules.

"We still have enough time.

"I will talk about it with the executive committee," Blatter said.

The head of Qatar's World Cup organising committee Hassan Al-Thawadi meanwhile reiterated the bid was for a World Cup in the summer, referring also to modern cooling technologies.

"But if the football community wants to have the World Cup in the winter, we are open for that," added Al-Thawadi.

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