Much of Australia is reasonably temperate. July in Sydney or Melbourne is in the 40s-50s Fahrenheit, which, while chilly, is both comparable to the climate for a large portion of the club season in Europe and vastly better than 100-ish for a sport that combines endurance running with interval sprints.

The previous World Cup in South Africa was also held during their winter. I believe the weather was similar to what Australia would have.

Yep, it is based on the northern hemisphere. Generally, the football season starts from Aug to May (in Europe) so the WC is usually held on June-July.

AFAIK, Australia's bid was for June-July 2022 and if FIFA changes the date, there is talk that Football Federation Australia will ask for recompense on their bid < http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/17/world-cup-20... >.

It sounds like the season is not the reason for the complaint, but that the tournament would interfere with local competition.

So confused by this, why would they ask for their World Cup pitch costs as compensation? That ship has sailed.

The argument is that they bid for a World Cup scheduled for June and July of 2022, so if the World Cup is not in fact scheduled for those dates, it was fraudulent for FIFA to solicit bids under the premise that it is.

So they'd have to refund everybody by that logic.