Qatari ambassador calls for winter World Cup

The finals were awarded to Qatar by world governing body FIFA in 2010 and are due to be held in the summer months when the temperature can reach more than 40 degrees Celsius. In December and January the average is a far less intense 17 degrees.

"I think sometimes a change is good - it would be great to have it in the winter," Dutchman De Boer, who ended his glittering playing career in Qatar, told delegates at the Leaders In Football business convention at Stamford Bridge.

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