Qatar World Cup: Winter sports urged to fight date switch

Winter sports federations have been urged to fight any plans to move the 2022 football World Cup to the winter.

Football governing body Fifa has set up a taskforce to consider alternative dates after concerns over high summer temperatures in host country Qatar.

But the International Ski Federation (FIS) fears its sport could suffer.

"FIS will submit a proposal to the six winter sports federations to sign a resolution against organising the World Cup during the winter," it said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is also monitoring Fifa's plans, as any switch of the 2022 World Cup could impact on that year's Winter Olympics.

The 2022 Winter Games take place in January and February and the IOC has previously stated it expects Fifa to consult with it to avoid any clash.

The IOC held a meeting over the weekend, chaired by new president Thomas Bach and attended by Fifa president Sepp Blatter.

Afterwards, it released a statement which read: "With respect to the sports calendar, the participants agreed that any new initiative has to respect the uniqueness of the Olympic Games.

"It means that neither the Olympic programme nor Games revenues should be adversely affected in any way.

"In order to ensure the respect of these principles, the participants agreed to the creation of a consultative working group under the leadership of the IOC, composed of the main stakeholders of the Olympic and sporting movement, which will compile a comprehensive sporting calendar of current events.

"This working group will also discuss the priority of current and future sports events within the global calendar."