EPL protest against Qatar a money issue

The main reasons for deploring a World Cup in Qatar 2022 revolve around the fishy nature of the bidding process, further evidence of FIFA’s institutionalised greed and the scandal of migrant workers dying on stadium construction sites.

Moving Manchester City’s kick-off with Chelsea in the 2022-23 season ranks only fourth on the list of legitimate grievances against Qatar and Premier League officials are adept at moving kick-off times any way.

The tournament simply should not be held in Qatar. Australia was the logical choice for 2022 in terms of selecting an emerging footballing power who had not hosted the event.

A World Cup in Sydney, Melbourne and elsewhere in the fabulous sporting country would have been from June to July, and would have been played out before ecstatic crowds.

Sadly, the argument for alternative venues has been lost amid the usual FIFA self-interest. On the basis that the body will not suddenly find the path to righteousness and switch the World Cup away from Qatar, the issue of timing must be addressed.

Given Qatar’s searing summer conditions, it has to be a winter World Cup, whatever the inconvenience for major European leagues.

Conveniently for Michel Platini, who voted for Qatar, UEFA’s beloved Champions League may operate with minimal disruption in 2022-23, assuming the group stage concludes before the World Cup starts and then resumes after the Dec 23 final.

The domestic leagues will be hit hardest, especially the Premier League with its historic and enjoyably manic Christmas and New Year holiday programme, which is bound to be affected by players arriving back after Qatar.

There is an argument that England’s players will be less exhausted at the World Cup, having fought their way through only half of the draining 10-month domestic season.

For fans of their national teams, Christmas has come early. So that’s Christmas shopping on Dec 23, followed by carol singing, then settling down to Germany against France in the 2022 final at the Lord Foster-designed Lusail Iconic Stadium.

The outcome of the Qatar shift to winter — recommended by the FIFA task force and which should be ratified by the body next month — is frustrating for club supporters, as their favourite soap opera will be placed on hold while another drama is screened. Fans’ organisations should have been consulted by FIFA.

Yet, English football is big enough, intelligent enough and wealthy enough to absorb the disruption to its 2022-23 season. It will lead to a chaotic, expanded season, probably beginning in July and ending in June, wrapped around the November-December World Cup with collateral damage to FA Cup replays.

Yet, it is manageable. The Premier League will have raked in close to £10 billion (S$21 billion) in television revenue by then.

Its CEO Richard Scudamore is such a talented, strategic thinker that he can surely juggle the fixture list without affecting his competition’s “sporting integrity”.

For such an innovative mind as Scudamore’s, he may depict the World Cup as a mid-season celebration of stellar performers in the world’s most popular league, an all-star break.

An innate sense of English arrogance permeated Scudamore’s statement expressing how “extremely disappointed” his organisation was with the task force’s recommendation. Given that English clubs have clambered all over international football, forcing the reduction in friendlies, there will be little sympathy for the Premier League.

There remains the strong suspicion that what really irks Scudamore is that when he comes to negotiating TV, radio, the Internet for the period encompassing the World Cup, he will not be able to offer such a tempting, non-stop diet of matches for broadcasters.

Scudamore concluded his statement with a threat of legal action, instead of a critical appraisal of Qatar’s right to host the World Cup. Surprise, surprise. Qatar pours money into English football.

It all comes down to money for the Premier League and FIFA. All the fish are sold — in time for Christmas.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Henry Winter is the Daily Telegraph’s football correspondent.