FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed Friday at a press conference that the next Qatar World Cup will be held in winter for the first time, but the tournament format has not been decided yet whether it will be 32 or 48 sides participating.

"For now it’s 32, but a decision has not been taken yet," said the president who has been in office since 2016 after replacing Sepp Blatter.

Starting from November 21 to December 18, 2022, this unusual change of the schedule is majorly due to the temperature levels at the Persian Gulf country, which has a very mild winter but a hot desert climate in summer. In the capital city of Doha, for example, the average temperature is 23 degrees Celsius in December and 32.8 degrees Celsius in July. There is no wonder that FIFA changes its common summer schedule, which is super unadaptable high temperature to soccer playing in Qatar, to the winter one.

Also, the president acknowledged the continual use of VAR in the next tournament. "VAR is cleaning football, making it more honest and transparent. You will never again see a goal scored in an offside position, either you’re offside, or you’re not. Look at the amount of violent conduct there have been. There has been zero in this World Cup because they know people will spot it." After the introduction of VAR, the correction check rate has been increased to 99.32 percent, he added.

(Cover photo: FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends the press conference ahead of the final match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on July 13, 2018, in Moscow, Russia. /VCG Photo)