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FIFA aim to shift Qatar SWC

Berlin - FIFA is proposing January/February and November/December in 2022 as possible dates for the Qatar World Cup, the ruling football body said on Monday.

FIFA said in a statement that the dates were offered at the first meeting in Zurich of a special task force dealing with the international match calendar 2018-2024.

FIFA said that the tournament must be played in 2022. Qatar's original plan to stage the event at the traditional June/July slot is widely opposed because of the intense summer heat at the time.

As a result, FIFA has invited all stakeholders to help search for alternative dates, with January/February and November/December now put forward for discussion.

However, with the Pyeonchang Winter Olympics to open on February 9 - and FIFA boss Joseph Blatter reportedly having assured Olympic supremo Thomas Bach that the events won't clash - a November/December slot could be likelier for the World Cup.

A winter World Cup will disrupt the season in key European leagues and continental events such as the Champions League in mid-season for around two months - and also lead to a changed calendar the season before and after the World Cup.

Monday's meeting was attended by representatives from FIFA, clubs, leagues, players' unions and Qatar organizing committee chiefHassan Al Thawadi.

FIFA said the "participants were presented with information on the implications of staging the event in winter as opposed to summer, as proposed by the FIFA Executive Committee."

Further talks are set for later in the year and early 2015 before the FIFA executive committee is to reach a decision in March 2015.

"As the FIFA Executive Committee has emphasised, the consultation process should not be rushed but instead be given the necessary time to consider all of the elements relevant for a decision," meeting chairman Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, a FIFA execitive committee member and Asian football supremo, said.

"We have made progress at today's meeting and will continue to work together to find the best solution for football."

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