However, FIFA insists that Executive Committee member Theo Zwanziger is just expressing his own personal opinion.
FIFA Executive Committee member Theo Zwanziger said during an interview Monday that he believes the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar, owing to the searing temperatures in the Middle Eastern nation.
Since the tiny Gulf state was awarded the tournament in 2010, it has struggled to convince critics that that the cooling technologies it had promised to deliver would adequately reduce temperatures in stadiums to a safe level.
It has also been forced to fend off multiple accusations of corruption, and faced questions surrounding the conditions provided for migrant workers.
Speaking in an interview with Germany's Sport Bild on Monday, former German Football Federation Chief Zwanziger — a high-profile member of FIFA's all-powerful Executive Committee — said, "I personally think that in the end the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar."
"Medics say that they cannot accept responsibility with a World Cup taking place under these conditions."
"They may be able to cool the stadiums but a World Cup does not take place only there," Zwanziger said.
He added: "Fans from around the world will be coming and traveling in this heat and the first life-threatening case will trigger an investigation by a state prosecutor. That is not something that FIFA Ex Co members want to answer for."
When contacted by Reuters, FIFA spokesperson Delia Fischer said, "He is expressing a personal opinion and he explicitly says so."
FIFA has faced questions surrounding the scorching temperatures in Qatar before. FIFA President Sepp Blatter has said awarding the rich Gulf state the tournament was probably a "mistake," and suggested it may be moved to be played in the European winter.
This, however, would disrupt many of the domestic seasons for the top soccer leagues around the world.
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