The organisers of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar have reportedly agreed to stage the tournament in the winter to avoid footballers playing in country's scorching summer months.
The move comes ahead of a two-day meeting of football's world governing body to discuss switching the tournament from its traditional slot.
According to Sky News, however, the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee insisted that they could still organise the tournament in the summer, when temperatures exceed 40 C, by installing cooling systems powered by renewable energy in stadiums.
Stating that they are able to accommodate a change if the international football community reaches a consensus to move the event to an alternate date, a spokesman for the committee said that any change would not affect their planning and preparation, adding that their commitment to cooling technologies will continue nevertheless.
The report mentioned that meeting of FIFA's executive committee in Zurich would discuss how best to avoid the searing heat of June and July over fears that switching the competition to the winter months would cause major disruption to British and European domestic leagues.
European football governing body UEFA's 54 member associations have already backed the principle of a winter World Cup, a proposal championed by the body's president Michel Platini, the report added.
