UEFA President Michel Platini told the London Evening Standard on Tuesday that he wants the 2022 World Cup held during the winter. Platini is confident that logistics can be worked out to move the 2022 tournament, which will be hosted by Qatar, out of the usual summer period. League play would have to be suspended in most European nations to accommodate a winter World Cup.

"I hope it will be held in winter," he said. "We have to go to Qatar when it is good for everybody to participate. What is better for the fans?

"In 10 years we can manage to decide how we can postpone the [European season] for one month. January is difficult for the World Cup because you have the Winter Olympic Games. If we stop from Nov. 2 to Dec. 20, it means, instead of finishing in May, we stop in June. It is not a big problem. It is for the good of the World Cup, the most important competition in the world."

Platini was among the FIFA executives who voted to stage the 2022 tournament in Qatar, where temperatures routinely top 100 degrees during the summer. Ambitious plans of air-conditioned stadiums to stage the games have received widespread ridicule.