After threats from various soccer leagues from around the world over the scheduling of the 2022 World Cup in the winter, FIFA has now seen its first legal challenge to the concept. Spain’s La Liga runs its season from September to June. FIFA has announced that it plans to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in November-December to avoid the stifling summer heat.
If the schedule holds for that World Cup, it means that La Liga would have to interrupt its season, then run into the summer of 2023 to finish its schedule. The Spanish football league has filed an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport challenging the FIFA plan. No court date has been set.
A league official says the loss of games when the Qatar World Cup would be played would cost La Liga almost $72 million. A shutdown of the European leagues would cost them eight weeks at a peak time.
Back in March, FIFA announced the change to November-December 2022 and then subsequently handed the U.S. media rights to the 2026 World Cup to incumbents Fox and Telemundo to avoid American lawsuits about moving the 2022 event.
But even so, Spain’s football league has issued a legal challenge and it might not be the last as the English Premier League which already expressed its displeasure about a winter World Cup, is exploring its options as well.
The issue surrounding the Qatar World Cup aren’t going away and with reports about bribery, migrant worker construction deaths, journalist arrests and now football league lawsuits, we’ll continue to have controversy until the Cup is moved or is actually played in Qatar.
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