Fifa are not backing down on a winter World Cup but they want it to be wrapped up a wee bit earlier than anticipated
While the decision to host a World Cup smack bang in the middle of the elite European season is bad, it pales in comparison to giving the bloody 2022 tournament to Qatar in the first place.
Fifa, of course, don’t seem too bothered with the decision to award the world’s biggest sporting event to a tiny country with many, many faults.
So today, what Fifa president Sepp Blatter addressed wasn’t the rights of migrant workers in Qatar or how the country may treat any gay fans who want to travel to the tournament. No, instead Sepp wanted to assure everyone that the whole business would be done a full week before Christmas.
In the aftermath of the confirmation of the November/December tournament the general consensus on social media was that the World Cup final would be held on December 23.
However, today Blatter has bleated that he wants the final to be held no later than December 18.
Great news for the shops, but way down the list of things that needed resolving about this tournament.