Here’s a question for all you soccer/sports law fans:
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| Will the 2022 Qatar World Cup be a winter Cup? |
If
FIFA moves the 2022 Qatar games to November or December, instead of holding it in its
traditional months of June and July, who could sue and on what grounds?
The background: Qatar submitted a bid to hold the World Cup
back in 2010. One of FIFA’s significant
concerns when it was evaluating the bid (see page 34 of the linked PDF) was
the weather in Qatar in June and July, which can reach temperatures in excess of
120°F. Qatar apparently assuaged those
concerns by
proposing an innovative cooling system that would encompass stadiums,
training sites, and fan zones; by grouping stadiums close together; and by developing
an extensive transportation network that would both minimize the time spent
outside and ensure that all outdoor sidewalks were shaded. FIFA awarded the bid to Qatar in late 2010
and Qatar moved forward with preparations.
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| The proposed Doha Port Stadium |
Back in September of 2013, FIFA
president Sepp Blatter indicated that FIFA was considering moving the 2022
World Cup to November or December so as to avoid the potentially dangerous
summertime heat in Qatar. In October, FIFA’s
executive committee met, allegedly to vote on whether to switch the World
Cup to the winter. The only result of
the meeting, however, was the
news that a decision would likely not be made until after the 2014 World Cup.
The controversy appeared to have died until Jerome Valcke,
FIFA’s general secretary, reignited it when he told French radio last
week that the Cup would be moved to November or December. FIFA immediately
issued a statement that the views were Valcke alone; and FIFA’s
vice-president emphatically stated that FIFA had yet to make a final
decision regarding the dates of the Cup.
So who could sue if FIFA does decide to go through with
changing the dates of the 2022 Cup?
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| Fox Sports (Fox's 24 hour sport channel) CEO David Hill |
Fox: Fox
spent a significant sum of money for the broadcast rights to the 2018 and
2022 World Cup; figures range up to $1 billion, with a solid $425 million
tossed around as a figure for the U.S. rights alone. Fox has asserted that its contract with FIFA
is for the broadcast rights to a summer 2022 World Cup and that its price would have been significantly
different had it known that the Cup was going to be held in the winter. Consider
the timing in the United States: November and December is prime time for
college sports, the NFL, the NHL, the NBA, etc. June and July have a relative dearth of sports to distract viewers from the
World Cup. Neither
Fox nor FIFA have released the details of the broadcasting contract, which
would dictate whether Fox could sue FIFA and/or Qatar for breach of
contract. Fox may also try
to renegotiate the contract price, claiming reduction in expected revenues
from a winter Cup as opposed to a summer Cup.
Soccer players:
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| Will players prefer a winter Cup? |
Most soccer league seasons (with the
exception of the United States) start in the fall and end in the spring. Holding a World Cup in November or December would
disrupt those schedules, could mess with the timing of player contracts,
and may wreak havoc on leagues that could take years to sort out. Wilder
predictions of the consequences of a winter 2022 World Cup include the end
of international soccer, the creation of a super league outside the auspices of
FIFA, or the
only chance for England to actually win a World Cup. As far as getting any traction on a legal
claim, it is doubtful that any of the players have a significant enough
interest in the timing of the Cup to overcome a 12(b)(6) motion or its foreign
equivalent.
Countries that lost
the bid for the 2022 Cup: The group
of countries that bid for the 2022 World Cup (which includes the United States,
Russia, and South Korea) and lost to Qatar may also have a claim against Qatar
or FIFA. The losing bidders protest the
change on the grounds that they submitted their bids on the premise that the
Cup would be held in the summer. Australia in particular has vocalized its concerns about the legal and financial consequences of
moving the Cup to the winter,
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| Australia's bid loss was a great disappointment. |
even to the point of asking
FIFA to compensate Australia for the costs of its bid and threatening to
sue if FIFA does not do so. While
Australia may have a legitimate legal argument, this fact only raises
additional questions: what court has jurisdiction -- an international court or a
domestic court? Which
international/domestic court? What law
would Australia cite – FIFA regulations, international law, domestic law? Would any court in which Australia sues
accept the case?
Other countries: Other countries that did not submit a bid
have also expressed anger with the proposed change: had they known that there
was a possibility that the Cup could have been held in the winter, they would
have submitted a bid. Middle Eastern
countries and countries in which June and July are the middle of winter in
particular indicated an interest in submitting a bid for a winter Cup.
Ultimately, it is unlikely that legal action will result, regardless of FIFA moving the Cup to the winter: international diplomacy and interest in preserving long-term relationships will likely mean Fox and FIFA will find a solution. But it is interesting to think about the potential legal consequences of FIFA's decision, however remote they might be.
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