Berlin (dpa) – The controversial soccer World Cup in Qatar is to start surprisingly one day earlier than planned.

According to information from the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the bro of the FIFA Council with the powerful confederation presidents is discussing a request also from the host nation, which wants to host its opening match against Ecuador already on November 20 as the sole highlight – and not as the third match of the day on November 21. Previously, the British sports portal The Athletic and the news agency AP had reported on this, the world governing body FIFA did not comment on the matter.

So far, the match between Senegal and the Netherlands on November 21 at 13:00 local time is scheduled as the first game, this game would probably then slip to the previous Qatar slot at 19:00 local time – more primetime for Holland. The change is not expected to affect the other World Cup matches, including Germany’s group games against Japan (Nov. 23), Spain (Nov. 27) and Costa Rica (Dec. 1).

Host Qatar wants opening game

The World Cup final has been scheduled for December 18 – the emirate’s national holiday. The postponement of the first Qatar match would not be the first change in the schedule, albeit one with significantly less impact than that decision in 2015, when FIFA had also decided to move the tournament from summer to winter due to great public pressure. In Qatar, temperatures in the traditional World Cup months of June and July are around 40 degrees.

The history of official opening matches did not begin until 1966 – before that, World Cup finals often featured simultaneous matches. However, FIFA has since recognized the first matches of the finals from 1930 to 1962 as opening matches. From 1958 to 1970, the tournament was always opened by the host, and after a change in the statutes, the world champion had the honor from 1974 to 2002, the last time being France at the World Cup in Japan and Sd Korea. Germany opened the 2006 World Cup at home again as hosts with a 4-2 win over Costa Rica.

The World Cup in Qatar is controversial for a variety of reasons. The emirate has been heavily criticized for human rights violations and its treatment of foreign workers. This World Cup is taking place at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons, Liverpool FC’s starting coach Jrgen Klopp had recently said.