World Cup 2022 final will be 18 December at latest, says Sepp Blatter

• Move could allow English Boxing Day programme to go ahead

• ‘Not until the 23rd … We have to stop at the 18th,’ says Fifa president

Sepp Blatter has insisted the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will finish no later than 18 December – a move that could protect English football’s traditional Boxing Day games. Uefa has proposed playing the final at the tournament on 23 December, just two days before Christmas, to lessen disruption to its own international matches. That sparked uproar in Britain as it would threaten the traditional festive club programme.

Blatter, speaking for the first time since a Fifa taskforce confirmed November/December for the 2022 tournament, said: “Not until the 23rd, definitely not. We have to stop at the 18th.”

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source Sport | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1zlYXIU