Apparently all that speculation about staging the 2022 World Cup in the winter is nothing more than that, despite earlier comments by FIFA President Sepp Blatter and others regarding that possibility.

In a statement FIFA said, "At this stage there are no concrete plans to change the international match calendar." Among the others who had chimed in was UEFA president Michel Platini, who also suggested games could be co-hosted by other nations in the region. Comments by Mohammed Bin Hamman, Qatari president of the Asian Football Confederation, contradict that notion.

"We submitted a bid suggesting we are going to be ready in June and July," Bin Hammam told Sky News last week. "And we said we are going to face all the challenges and we are going to meet all the requirements. Our focus is June, July. It is never our interest to change one week beyond June and July."