Ex-FIFA official calls awarding 2022 World Cup to Qatar 'big mistake' over health fears

The former FIFA technical inspector, who led the official inspection of the bidding nations, has said that the world football governing body has made a mistake by awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar and will put the health of players and fans at risk if the tournament is not moved from the summer.

Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the former chairman of the Chilean Football Association (FA), had warned that awarding the hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup to the Gulf kingdom was a mistake as it will be 'impossible and impractical' to play in Qatar in the summer months even with the cooling technology proposed by the organising committee.

According to Sky News, Mayne-Nicholls had stated in a report that the summer months would pose as a health risk for players, officials and spectators and requires precautions to be taken, although his recommendations failed to come into fruition after Qatar polled more votes than the USA to win the tournament.

However, Mayne-Nicholls, who now runs a charitable sporting foundation in Chile, revealed that he was certain that Qatar would win the 2022 World Cup three days before the decisive FIFA vote in late 2010, although he called for the tournament to be moved to a different, cooler time of the year.