A Game Of Two Halves

SUGGESTIONS have been made to change fixtures at the 2022 Qatar World Cup to games of THREE thirty minute periods - if the heat conditions become too much for players.

Michael Beavon, director of Arup Associates, said: "There is a moderate risk of heat injury to the players between 24C-29C. But if you go above that you have high and extreme risk of injury.

"The one thing FIFA do say, although it is for guidance, is if it's 32C they will stop a match and play three 30-minute thirds rather than two 45-minute halves."

Temperatures can soar to over 40C in the summer, so the risk to players' health is clearly substantial. But, there is another way to get around this problem.

Do not have the World Cup in Qatar.

It is probably the most obvious solution.

What is the point in having three period football matches? It goes against the entire history of football. Not only will the idea of three periods play havoc with television scheduling, but the games will take even longer to complete.

No one wants to go to a football match and be disturbed by regular intervals. This is not American football where it takes four hours to complete a game because of the different plays and advertisement breaks.

Naturally, FIFA have distanced themselves from the claims. A spokesman said: "The possibility has not been discussed." Trust Sepp Blatter and his cronies to attempt to sweep another scandal under the rug.

The problem with Blatter is that he wants to leave a legacy. This is why we are facing the problematic World Cup in Qatar in the middle of summer, because of his 'legacy'. The only thing he is going to be remembered for is a series of cock-ups and a bribery scandal - not to mention his stubborn stance on goal-line technology, which I am not even going to get into.

Qatar was not a popular choice to host a World Cup, and this will do nothing to change anyone's views on the matter. Should three thirty minute periods be introduced, Blatter will be the laughing stock of the planet and the beautiful game will be a mockery.

Kolo's Drug Disgrace

WHY do football players feel the need to take drugs? As if they do not have everything already, they feel the need to have even more and even find themselves above the law. Manchester City's Kolo Toure is the latest example to be disgraced after the FA informed him that he tested positive when he gave an A sample.

The Ivory Coast international, who was not involved in last night's 3-0 FA Cup fifth round victory over Aston Villa, has been suspended by the club. And quite rightly so.

Why should any player be treated differently? We saw former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu test positive for cocaine in 2004, which led to the Romanian being sacked and fined £20,000 by the FA, along with a seven month ban. Mutu still has to pay his transfer fee back to the Stamford Bridge outfit.

In 2006, former West Ham United midfielder Shaun Newton also tested positive for cocaine and, like Mutu, was banned for seven months, while in the same year Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Chris Cornes was banned for six months for the same indiscretion.

Surely the former Arsenal man should receive the same treatment, even if it is not cocaine. Drug use is the same, no matter what language you speak, and anyone who abuses the system should be handed a fine and a ban.

Dwain Chambers was banned from athletics for two years after testing positive for tetrahydrogestrinone (THG). Many believe that the British track star should have been handed a lifetime ban, but he returned to the athletics scene in 2005.

He is not the first City player to be involved in a drugs scandal. In 2003, Christian Negouai was fined £2,000 by the FA after missing a drugs test, although the man signed from Charleroi for £1.5m was stuck in traffic but was willing to take the test.

This case was used by rivals Manchester United who tried to appeal against Rio Ferdinand's eight month ban, but FIFA President Sepp Blatter claimed that there were distinct differences between the cases, stating that Ferdinand was unwilling to take the test.

Should Toure be found guilty, the FA should hand out the strictest punishment possible in order to get the message out that drugs are completely unacceptable in sport.