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IOC welcomes Qatar date move

FIFA president Joseph Blatter opens the envelope to reveal that Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich on December 2, 2010

The head of the International Olympic Committee on Saturday welcomed FIFA plans to move the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to November and December, avoiding any clash with that year's Winter Olympics. A FIFA taskforce has recommended the 2022 tournament be played in November and December due to extreme summer temperatures in Qatar and IOC president Bach said he saw the decision as "logical". "It is a logical decision in the interest of the World Cup and the Olympic Games," said Bach, who repeated his view made in December it would not make sense to have a World Cup in January-February as that would cause a potential clash. "It would result in a no-win situation as both events could lose attention from fans and broadcasters alike," Bach said, having also earlier maintained that a Winter Games has little breathing space on dates owing to weather conditions.