ZURICH — FIFA's executive committee will decide the definitive winter dates for the 2022 World Cup Finals at a meeting starting Thursday knowing that their ruling will only ignite new battles over the controversial tournament in Qatar. European clubs are demanding compensation over the change from a summer tournament to November-December, a bitter row over corruption allegations surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids has not been laid to rest and the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar remains a worry for FIFA chiefs. The executive committee's two-day meeting in Zurich will decide the firm dates of the tournament as well as whether South Korea or France will host the women's World Cup in 2019. Moving the world's most watched sporting event to the Northern Hemisphere winter has opened new divisions within the football leadership. The tournament is expected to be shortened to reduce the fallout for Europe's league championships. FIFA President Sepp Blatter has said the tournament will not run till after Dec. 18 in a bid to reassure the English Premier League, which feared a clash with their packed Christmas program. But top European clubs want hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for the disruption to their cash rich championships which contributed three quarters of the players who appeared at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Blatter, who will seek a fifth term as FIFA president in May, said compensation is not justified. On the other hand FIFA paid out $70 million to about 400, mainly European, clubs after the 2014 World Cup and this could be substantially increased for 2022. UEFA is already promising 150 million euros ($170 million) for clubs whose players are on duty at the 2016 European championships in France. This meeting will be the first chaired by Blatter since FIFA vice president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein announced he would stand against the Swiss veteran. Portuguese football legend Figo and Dutch football chief Michael van Praag are also standing. Blatter, 79, remains the favorite but his rivals are furiously lobbying for support. FA warns clubs over ref confrontations The English Football Association has warned clubs about their players' on-field behavior after what it calls a “scary” rise in the number of cases of referees being surrounded. Such incidents in the top five divisions have already led to 16 FA charges against clubs, which resulted in a sliding scale of fines, compared with six cases in each of the previous two seasons. A further 29 warnings have also been issued to clubs this season. “We have seen a pretty scary increase this season in the number of clubs charged with their players surrounding referees,” FA chairman Greg Dyke said. “As a result we have written to the clubs in the top five divisions reminding them of the rules and their responsibilities.” Dyke was speaking after the conduct of Chelsea players in a Champions League game came under scrutiny last week. Chelsea players were criticized for surrounding the referee following an incident that saw Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off. That game fell under UEFA jurisdiction, but the English governing body will charge a club if “three or more players of one club approach a match official in a confrontational manner.” — Agencies
