The controversial move to stage football's 2020 European Championship in a dozen or more countries is likely to be followed by major leagues across the continent, including the Premier League, fighting any bid to reschedule the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the winter.
The 2020 decision was a summer whim by UEFA president Michel Platini and will mean tens of thousands of fans making arduous journeys to follow their teams.
A 2022 seasonal move needs to be rubberstamped by FIFA but is a strong possibility.
Their president, Sepp Blatter, said in January last year that he expects a Qatar World Cup 'will be held in winter', but this is not yet FIFA's formal decision.
Over the past few days, Qatar 2022's communications and marketing director, Nasser Al Khater, has confirmed: 'We bid for the World Cup to be held in summer and we're planning to organise it in summer. But if people at FIFA want us to host it in winter, then we'll do it in winter.'
More from Nick Harris... Nick Harris: Murray and Co chase £1.5m as Wimbledon chiefs raise prize money to record £20m 20/04/13 Tiger got away with it because golfing rules allow for discretion 13/04/13 Nick Harris: FA investigate Rovers as civil war breaks out between senior executives 13/04/13 Nick Harris: We can't protect players from fake agents, say FA 30/03/13 NICK HARRIS: Premier League stars at risk of ruin with £1bn in 'tax relief' schemes 23/03/13 All to play for in the League One battle of the basket cases 23/03/13 Nick Harris: Hammers mortgage £60m of TV money in bid to manage debts 16/03/13 Nick Harris: Is Suarez on the way to Atletico Madrid as Chelsea line up Falcao? 09/03/13 Nick Harris: No pay from PSG.. but Beckham reveals record £20million profit for 2012 02/03/13 VIEW FULL ARCHIVEThose complaining most vociferously will be the biggest clubs from Europe - and England. Qatar is a small and extremely hot country with little footballing history.
The Qatari organisers' bid made an explicit commitment to stage it in the summer, when average temperatures are 41oC (106oF) in the Arab state.
The bid document said stadiums and some outside areas would be cooled with revolutionary air-conditioning technology.
The Premier League says moving the event from summer to winter is 'unworkable and unacceptable to domestic European football'.
Such a shift would mean displacing a big chunk of the 2021-22 domestic season.
The Premier League's view is understood to be shared by many European leagues, whose interests are collectively represented by the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL).
Sources say that if Qatar's World Cup is staged in winter, legal action is a possibility. The EPFL's formal position on the matter, to date, is 'wait and see'.
The organisation's chief executive, Dr Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, told Inside Sport: 'We will have a discussion when it is officially confirmed FIFA want a winter World Cup.'
Ennis slams footballers' wagesJessica Ennis, always the most grounded of Britain's sporting superstars, was solidly behind fiancé Andy Hill last week as he made a case that it was 'immoral' for footballers to earn £200,000 per week while public service workers earn considerably less in a year.
'Fight, fight, fight!' urged Ennis as Hill and Inside Sport engaged in lively debate over sportsmen's earnings at a dinner last Sunday.
The occasion was the Jaguar Academy Awards, where Ennis collected the first of four awards in five days in recognition of her heptathlon gold medal at London 2012.
Ennis was also voted the nation's sportswoman of the year in a public vote last week then picked up two more gongs from the Sports Journalists' Association.
Appeal: Jessica Ennis (left) ranting at footballers wages while Andrew Strauss (right) is watching from afar Strauss text appealGiven the uproar over the 'KP texts', it is ironic that former England cricket captain Andrew Strauss has been staying in touch with the England camp in India by text message.
As he comes to terms with retirement, Strauss tells me he has been texting back and forth with England coach Andy Flower.
Strauss has not been watching every ball in the sub-continent, however.
'Getting up at three or four in the morning is a bit early!' he said. 'I've been watching from more like 9am, after the school run.'
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