The proposal to move the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the winter months has been backed by the world footballers’ union, FIFPro. The suggestions have been supported by various FIFA officials, including FIFA president Sepp Blatter, due to summer temperatures potentially reaching 50C in the Middle Eastern Gulf.

In a statement, FIFPro said it “does not foresee any insurmountable problems in this regard”. The event which is traditionally held in June and July may well be hosted in January for the 2022 edition.

Tijs Tummers, secretary of FIFPro’s technical committee, did however question the decision to award Qatar the tournament based on it still being held in the summer. “It is not sensible in a country with an average temperature of 41C in June and July, a midday temperature of 50C and, above all, extremely high humidity”.

“Tourists are advised not to travel to Qatar in the summer months and inhabitants leave the country en masse during this period” added Tummers. “The summer months in Qatar also do not provide suitable conditions for a festival of football such as the World Cup should be, including for the supporters.”

However Tummers did support a switch to winter in order to counter the climate issues and also stated that the player’s may well be in better condition than usual after a long European season.

“Space will have to be made for the tournament, even though many countries already have a winter break,” added the secretary of FIFPro’s technical committee. “In Europe, competitive matches will have to be played in August and the second half of May and the first half of June.

“If you look at what happened last weekend with weather problems in Europe because of heavy snowfall, you could see this as an advantage rather than as a problem. And it might, perhaps, turn out that the players will be fitter at the start of a winter World Cup than was the case last summer at the World Cup in South Africa” concluded Tummers.

Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium has appointed Nathalie Cook as its new vice-president of marketing and partnerships, it has been announced.

Cook was previously director of partnerships for the organisation, which delivered multi-platform coverage and consumer choice of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Adam Ashton, president of the consortium, said: “Nathalie’s experience and passion for the Olympic Games shines through in all that she does.

“She is both a team player and born leader, whose ideas and foresight push limits to achieve maximum results in the best interest of her clients and partners.”

Cook added: “Having worked in amateur sports for the majority of my career, I truly believe in the spirit and goodwill of the Olympic Games on a global level and am proud to contribute to its legacy.

“Vancouver 2010 was a watershed moment in the media industry and I look forward to working with much of the same team and continuing the momentum for London 2012.”

Organisers of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games have said they expect the opening ceremony to be a 60,000 sell-out, despite tickets costing up to US$1,000 each.

Chairman of the Games’ organising committee, Suresh Kalmadi, has said all tickets priced at 1,000 rupees (US$22) and 5,000 rupees (US$110) are sold-out, and he was predicting that all tickets costing 25,000 rupees (US$555) would be gone by the end of yesterday.

The opening ceremony will take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on 3 October and will showcase 5,000 years of Indian culture. It will include dance from across the country as well as a giant helium balloon which will float above the stadium.

Kalmadi also insisted the Games would be a success, despite widespread criticism its preparations. He said he believed the event would act as a springboard for an Indian Olympic Games bid on the not too distant future.

The President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has suspended the national football team from international competition for two years after a poor showing at this summer’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Nigeria finished bottom of Group B with just one point, losing to Argentina and Greece, and drawing with South Korea, and special Presidential advisor Ima NIboro has told reporters the decision will “enable Nigeria to reorganise its football”.

There are also reports that the Nigerian Football Federation is to be dissolved, with an interim board replacing it.

Niboro said: “President Goodluck Jonathan has directed that Nigeria withdraws from international competition for two years to enable the country to put its house in order.

“This directive became necessary following Nigeria’s poor performance in the ongoing World Cup.”

However, under FIFA rules, any government interference with the national team is strictly forbidden, and so the decision taken by President Jonathan may not be so straight forward.

FIFA has released a statement reading: “At the time of writing, we have no official information on this matter. However, in general, FIFA’s position regarding political interference in football is well known. Our statutes do not allow for any political interference.”

The European Tour has announced a new event will take place in China.

The inaugural Shenzhen International will be held at Genzon Golf Club, medic in the Longgang district of Shenzhen, clinic | from April 16–19, 2015.

With a field comprising 100 players from The European Tour, 50 players from China Golf Association and six sponsors’ invitations, the US$2.5 million tournament will be played the week after the year’s first Major, the Masters Tournament.

The Neil Haworth-designed championship course at Genzon Golf Club, which was the venue for this year’s Volvo China Open, will host the tournament.

Commenting on the latest addition to The 2015 European Tour International Schedule, George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, said: “We are delighted to add another new tournament in China to an already robust 2015 schedule. In recent years, China has become an increasingly important player in the global golf market, and we are indebted to Genzon Group for committing to promote the new tournament. Genzon Golf Club, and the city of Shenzhen, both proved to be superb hosts for the Volvo China Open earlier this year, so we had no hesitation in agreeing to return there for the Shenzhen International.”

Fei Hai-long, the General Manager of Genzon Golf Club said: “We are delighted to launch the Shenzhen International, which will be Asia’s new professional elite golf tournament. We thank our partners at The European Tour, the China Golf Association, the Administration of Sports of Guangdong Province, the Culture Sports and Tourism Administration of Shenzhen Municipality and the Longgang district for their support of this tournament, and we look forward to welcoming the players, fans and international golf community to the Genzon Golf Club in April next year.”

The tournament will take on the name of the city of Shenzhen, the economic powerhouse of China’s Pearl River Delta region.

Explaining the decision to name the tournament after its host city, Ke Gangming, Counsel of Culture Sports and Tourism Administration of Shenzhen Municipality, added: “In a first for the region, this tournament will be staged in the city of Shenzhen, by the city of Shenzhen, and for the greater benefit of the Pearl River Delta region, as well as golf enthusiasts in China and around the world. Through its international trading links, Shenzhen is China’s window to the world. In addition to staging a first-class international golf tournament, it is our intention to use this event to showcase the modern and vibrant city of Shenzhen to the world.”

Speaking of the new partnership, Zhang Xiao-ning, Vice-President and Secretary General of the China Golf Association, said: “We welcome the addition of the Shenzhen International to The 2015 European Tour International Schedule. The championship will bring an international showcase event to the people of Shenzhen and the surrounding area.

“It will also provide an emerging group of highly-talented young Chinese golfers with the opportunity to compete against the best players in the game on a world stage. As we look forward to golf’s inclusion in the next Olympic Games, this tournament will be another milestone in China’s path to becoming a major golf nation.”

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have suspended future India tours to the Caribbean following the West Indies’ decision last week to abandon their visit to India.

“All bilateral tours between BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and the WICB (West Indies Cricket Board) stand suspended,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement.

India were scheduled to tour the Caribbean in February-March 2016 to play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 international.

The BCCI also announced it would “initiate legal proceedings against the WICB due to the abrupt cancellation of this tour”.

India’s cricket chief had warned of “serious action” against the West Indies for abandoning their tour. Tuesday’s statement comes after the BCCI’s working committee held an emergency meeting in Hyderabad.

India’s away tours usually generate huge sponsorship money for the host nation due to the country’s large cricket-viewing population.

The West Indies cut short their tour of India on Friday due to an internal payment dispute, even though one one-day international, a Twenty20 match and three Tests still remained to be played.

West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo had said before the start of the tour on October 8 that the players had not accepted the payment agreement signed on their behalf by the West Indies Players Association.

But the tourists took to the field for three one-dayers in Kochi, New Delhi and Dharamsala, while one match in Visakhapatnam was cancelled due to a severe storm on India’s east coast.