European clubs are still hopeful of persuading FIFA to stage the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in May rather than in the winter.

A FIFA task force, set up to find the best time of year to stage the tournament, meets for the third and final time in Doha today when it is expected to make a recommendation to the FIFA EXCO.

On the basis of that recommendation, the final decision on the long-running saga should then be made in Zurich on March 20.

After the last task force meeting in November, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said that the January/February 2022 or Novem-ber/December 2022 options were the favourites.

However, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said this month that he had received an assurance from FIFA chief Sepp Blatter that there would be no overlap with the 2022 Winter Olympics.

That would rule out the Jan-uary/February option, leaving November/December as the only choice.

However, the European Clubs’ Association (ECA) said they be-lieved that May was still on the table. “Our position remains unchanged really,” an ECA spokesman told Reuters.

“We have elaborated a proposal with EPFL (the Association of European Professional Leagues), which our representatives will present to the task force tomorrow. We want it to be seriously discussed.

“We are surprised by the reports claiming that there is an agreement. We are not aware.”

Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup on the basis that the finals would be staged in June/July using naturally cooled stadia to alleviate the effects of the searing heat.

Qatar has continued to say it is happy to stage the World Cup in June/July and that the cooling technology will be ready.

Despite this, there is widespread agreement that the tournament should be held in the cooler months, particularly for the benefit of visiting fans.

ECA’s proposal is for the finals to be staged from May 5 to June 4, which it said would cause less disruption to the European club season.