Qatar: No talk of three 30-minute periods
Reuters - Thursday 07 July 2011, 19:33
DOHA - Organisers of the 2022
World Cup in Qatar have denied that there have been discussions
about splitting games into three 30-minute periods if
temperatures in the stadiums become dangerously high for the
players.
"Splitting the games held during the FIFA World Cup 2022 in
Qatar has not been discussed at any time," the organising
committee said in a statement on Thursday.
"All 64 games in 2022 will be played in carbon neutral
cooled stadiums in two halves of 45 minutes as per
regulations."
Qatar says that all matches will be played in
air-conditioned stadiums in which the temperature will be
maintained at around 24 degrees Celsius.
Michael Beavon, a director of Arup Associates who helped to
develop the zero-carbon solar technology that will cool the 12
stadiums, said in London on Wednesday that matches could be
split into three periods if, for some reason, the temperature
reached 32 Celsius.
FIFA denied on Wednesday the possibility had been discussed
and Qatar said the comments were "without any foundation."
Qatar was controversially awarded the finals last December,
beating off bids from Australia, Japan, South Korea and the
United States.
The decision came despite FIFA's own technical report saying
that summer heat in the country could be a potential health risk
for officials, players and spectators and required special
precautions to be taken.
Both Qatar and FIFA have also rejected the idea that the
tournament could be held in the milder months of January and
February.