kingdannyb Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 The Sun are very negative about it but I've always thought choosing to play football in winter and not summer was stupid. Spain and Italy, who got it blocked last time in 1998 after complaining about the heat, now seem to play the majority of their games in the evening. I want this to happen and it seems my wish will come true ! My link FIFA bosses are working on a secret plan to turn football into a summer sport. Their new season would extend from March to October. UEFA president Michel Platini is leading the push for the introduction of a controversial international calendar throughout the soccer world. And the proposals for the revolutionary changes are already well under way at FIFA's Swiss HQ. Platini's shock idea will mean that, from 2015, major tournaments such as the World Cup, European Championships and African Nations Cup would be staged in February and March. And to accommodate the upheaval, every league in the world would be forced to cram their domestic season into a 7?-month period between mid-March and the end of October. That would leave a six-week period from November to mid-December for international qualifying games followed by a complete four-week rest for every player until mid-January. It is not the first time French legend Platini has tried to shake up world football. A similar hair-brained scheme was dumped in 1998 after objections from Italy and Spain over playing in the summer. Now, though, Platini has dusted his plans down and is confident of getting enough votes from FIFA executive committee members worldwide to force the changes through. The idea of an international calendar has gained strength within world football's governing body ever since they controversially voted to hand the 2022 World Cup finals to Qatar. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has already admitted it will be virtually impossible to put on football's showpiece during the traditional June and July thanks to the Gulf state's unbearable summer heat. The adoption of Platini's calendar would be the perfect solution to Qatar's problem of staging an indoor World Cup in air-conditioned stadia. Yet the plans are certain to face massive opposition from England's top clubs, as well as the other major European leagues. A Premier League insider said: "There is no possibility we could accept this idea. Football in England has been a winter sport for the past 140 years and there is no way we could suddenly just switch to playing in summer. "Apart from the years of tradition, you would also have to consider the devastating effect it would have on other sports such as cricket and rugby league. Advertisement "If this proposal was adopted by FIFA, it would also be virtually impossible for the Premier League to continue its present 20-team format. "It is hard enough to fit all the Premier League fixtures into the current 36-week season, because of increasing demands from UEFA for international and European dates. "But if the season was switched from March to October, it would give us just 32 weeks to accommodate 38 League fixtures as well as the FA Cup, Carling Cup, Champions League and Europa League." Bundesliga president Reinhard Rauball also declared: "There can be no such revolutionary change without the five major European leagues being part of the agreement. "I am against it and I can hardly imagine the British agreeing." A spokesman for the European Professional Football Leagues admitted: "It would certainly appear to be very difficult for certain European leagues to play their seasons in July and August." Platini is expected to propose his plan for formal adoption later in the year, after he has been re-elected UEFA president in March and Blatter has been re-elected FIFA supremo in June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Kilpatrick Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Football is only a winter sport because a lot of clubs were formed out of cricket clubs and for the need for something to do in the winter months. The game was more popular and superseded its older brother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingantti1874 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 especially in northern europe we should be playing in summer. i'd love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Dover Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 This might suggest then that there was some method in their madness in awarding the WC to Quatar, in the knowledge that by then the calendar would have been altered ? Or am I giving them too much credit Also not keen on the statement that this will be ratified WHEN ( and not if ) he is re-ellected as UEFA top dog later this year Same for Blatter too - WHEN not if ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Dover Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 especially in northern europe we should be playing in summer. i'd love it Going to cause havoc with the Cricket and the Golf surely ...................Hazel wont know which way she's turning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socrates Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 There's supposed to be a chance that Blatter gets a real challenge from the head of the Asian version of UEFA, whose name I've forgotten, but he's from Qatar. It's suggested that the big European countries have had enough of Blatter. I'm not convinced that they gave the World Cup to Qatar to force this through, but it would be a good idea for us and a lot of other countries. To be fair, I could see why it wouldn't work so well in Italy or Spain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redm Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Football is only a winter sport because a lot of clubs were formed out of cricket clubs and for the need for something to do in the winter months. The game was more popular and superseded its older brother. Seems all logical and everything but if these changes go ahead, what the heck are we meant to do in the winter for entertainment? We'll have to take up watching ice hockey or something.... Actually, why am I directing this at you? You don't even DO winter. Not properly anyway.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Kilpatrick Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Seems all logical and everything but if these changes go ahead, what the heck are we meant to do in the winter for entertainment? We'll have to take up watching ice hockey or something.... Actually, why am I directing this at you? You don't even DO winter. Not properly anyway.... Indeed, football is already a summer sport here (although the locals call it by that awful 'S' word that isn't part of my vocabulary unless it involves Jeff Stelling). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minardi Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Seems all logical and everything but if these changes go ahead, what the heck are we meant to do in the winter for entertainment? We'll have to take up watching ice hockey or something.... Exactly! There's nothing else to do in the winter. Imagine the festive period without football? Awful! Summer is a time for summer holidays and other sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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