The 2022 Winter Olympics may have to move from its traditional January and February dates should the World Cup finals being staged in Qatar face a season change, leading European Clubs Association executive Umberto Gandini told Reuters on Wednesday.
ECA vice-chairman Gandini, who also works as director of sport at AC Milan, said during the Leaders In Sport summit at Stamford Bridge that the World Cup should take precedence over Winter Games.
"Not to be controversial, but the World Cup is one of the major events in the sports landscape with the Summer Olympics," he said. "But the Winter Olympics, with all due respect, are not up there.
"When you have such a huge event like the World Cup, and you have to move it from its summer window, don't tell me it's not possible to find a solution and move the Winter Olympics a bit so they don't clash -- especially now where the Winter Olympics are still under the bidding process and there are only two candidates [Beijing and Almaty].
"With wisdom and debate it is possible to achieve a solution which will satisfy the majority."
Discussions about shifting the tournament dates from the searing summer heat are continuing as FIFA's ethics judge considers the findings of an investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests.
Last month, FIFA offered two alternative options, including a November-December tournament, which would shut down top European leagues for two months. The other was January-February, though Blatter previously assured IOC president Thomas Bach that the World Cup will not clash with the 2022 Winter Olympics, likely in February.
During a Leaders summit panel with ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Gandini said that 76 percent of players at the last two World Cups were contracted to ECA clubs and any decision eventually taken about the 2022 World Cup would "need the goodwill of the ECA."
Rummenigge, chief executive of German champions Bayern Munich, said: "The first thing we must recognise is that FIFA's decision was based on holding the World Cup in the summer of 2022.
"If there is now a strong wish for the stakeholders -- FIFA, UEFA, FIFPro, and so on -- to want to change, we are ready to discuss under one condition: that there is no damage for club football, because if we change from summer to November or January then it will affect our business, our calendar.
"And we are not ready to pay such a bill. That cost cannot be paid for by the clubs. We are not ready to pay it and it has to be made clear to FIFA that they need the goodwill of the clubs or we are not ready to talk or discuss it."
FIFA's executive committee awarded Qatar the 2022 hosting rights despite knowing that temperatures routinely rise above 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) in summer.
Qatari organisers have pledged to combat heat by building air-cooled venues for matches and team training.