Daily Mail

QATAR HEAT RISKS IGNORED

- MATT LAWTON

FIFA executives failed to properly consider that it gets very hot in Qatar in June and July before awarding the country the 2022 World Cup, the Garcia report has claimed. Daytime temperatur­es seldom fall below 37˚C in the summer, - yet it ‘never occurred’ to a FIFA’s executive committee that the tournament should be moved to the winter, or that there might be health risks from playing in such heat. The report criticises Harold Mayne-Nicholls, who led the inspection team, saying he was ‘compromise­d’ and ‘tainted’ in his assessment of Qatar. Emails show the Chilean asked Qatar’s Aspire Academy if his son and nephew could train at the facility and whether there were any opportunit­ies for his tennis coach brother-in-law. It is alleged medical officer Michel D’Hooghe was also ‘compromise­d’ because his son was given a job at a private hospital in Qatar shortly after the 2022 vote.

 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? Out to impress: Beckham meets Warner
GETTY IMAGES Out to impress: Beckham meets Warner

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