The final meeting of the 2022 task force are taking place in Doha today.

The timing of the tournament in November/December tournament is in order to avoid the heat of the summer.

One task force member, who wished to remain anonymous, told Press Association Sport: “It is almost certain that November/December will be agreed but the trade-offs will be for a cut in the length of the World Cup and the preparation period beforehand.

“The leagues have been forceful in arguing that you only need two weeks’ preparation beforehand rather than the usual three or four, and that the tournament does not need to be as long as the 32 days it was in Brazil.

“The logistics of Qatar mean it will be less than two hours’ drive to every stadium so there will be no travel days for teams. You also don’t need five days between the semi-final and final – 72 hours should be long enough.”

Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the Asian confederation president from Bahrain who is chairing the task force, has made no secret of the fact that November/December was FIFA’s favoured choice.

He said at the end of January: “The matter is resolved. The period best suited for hosting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be in November and December because for sure it needs to be played in the winter.”

The European Clubs’ Association had put forward its own proposal for a May/June tournament.