Brazil star Neymar says next year's World Cup in Qatar could be the last of his career.

The comments by the 29-year-old striker were made in the documentary Neymar &amp; The Line Of Kings,&nbsp;produced by DAZN. An excerpt was published on the channel's Twitter feed on Sunday.

"Man, I think it will be my last World Cup," Neymar said.

"I am facing it like the last World Cup because I don't know whether I will be able to, mentally, to endure more soccer."

"I will do everything possible to get there very well," he added.

"I will do all I can to win it with my country and realize my dream, the biggest since my boyhood. I hope I can achieve it."

Neymar will play with Brazil later on Sunday at Colombia in a World Cup qualifying match. The Seleo leads the 10-team round robin competition with 27 points after nine games.

The striker did not play in Thursday's 3-1 Brazil win at Venezuela due to suspension.

The match in Barranquilla will mark Neymar's return since the 2-0 win against Peru on Sept. 10, in which he turned in a key Brazil performance with an assist and a goal. Despite his efforts, Neymar made clear after the match that he is upset with the treatment he gets at home.

I don't know what else I need to do with this shirt for people to respect Neymar,&nbsp;he said. Local media accused the striker of being out of shape in the 1-0 win at Chile earlier in September, which prompted the striker to walk around shirtless during training to show how fit he is.

Against Peru, Neymar overtook Romrio as Brazil's top goal scorer in World Cup qualifiers, with 12 goals. He is also approaching Pele's record of 77 official goals for Brazil. The Paris Saint-Germain striker has scored 69 times for Brazil.

Neymar has so far played at two World Cups. In 2014, he picked up a back injury in the quarterfinals against Colombia, which stopped him from playing in the 7-1 humiliation against Germany in the semifinals.

In the most recent edition of the tournament, Neymar had just returned from a serious foot injury and turned in an unimpressive performance in Brazil's 2-1 quarterfinals defeat to Belgium. He left Russia amid heavy criticism for his apparently exaggerated reaction to being fouled.

Neymar won the 2013 Confederations Cup title with Brazil. He has also won the gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. The striker was injured before the 2019 Copa America, which the Seleo won at home.

Brazil star Neymar says next year's World Cup in Qatar could be the last of his career. The comments by the 29-year-old striker were made in the documentary Neymar & The Line Of Kings, produced by DAZN.

Brazil star Neymar says next year's World Cup in Qatar could be the last of his career. The comments by the 29-year-old striker were made in the documentary Neymar & The Line Of Kings, produced by DAZN. An excerpt was published on the channel's Twitter feed on Sunday. "Man, I think it will be my last World Cup," Neymar said. "I am facing it like the last World Cup because I don't know whether I will be able to, mentally, to endure more soccer." "I will do everything possible to get there very well," he added. "I will do all I can to win it with my country and realize my dream, the biggest since my boyhood. I hope I can achieve it." Neymar will play with Brazil later on Sunday at Colombia in a World Cup qualifying match. The Seleo leads the 10-team round robin competition with 27 points after nine games. The striker did not play in Thursday's 3-1 Brazil win at Venezuela due to suspension. The match in Barranquilla will mark Neymar's return since the 2-0 win against Peru on Sept. 10, in which he turned in a key Brazil performance with an assist and a goal. Despite his efforts, Neymar made clear after the match that he is upset with the treatment he gets at home. I don't know what else I need to do with this shirt for people to respect Neymar, he said. Local media accused the striker of being out of shape in the 1-0 win at Chile earlier in September, which prompted the striker to walk around shirtless during training to show how fit he is. Against Peru, Neymar overtook Romrio as Brazil's top goal scorer in World Cup qualifiers, with 12 goals. He is also approaching Pele's record of 77 official goals for Brazil. The Paris Saint-Germain striker has scored 69 times for Brazil. Neymar has so far played at two World Cups. In 2014, he picked up a back injury in the quarterfinals against Colombia, which stopped him from playing in the 7-1 humiliation against Germany in the semifinals. In the most recent edition of the tournament, Neymar had just returned from a serious foot injury and turned in an unimpressive performance in Brazil's 2-1 quarterfinals defeat to Belgium. He left Russia amid heavy criticism for his apparently exaggerated reaction to being fouled. Neymar won the 2013 Confederations Cup title with Brazil. He has also won the gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. The striker was injured before the 2019 Copa America, which the Seleo won at home.

Neymar says World Cup in Qatar may be his last

World soccer's governing body FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings into Sunday's Brazil v Argentina World Cup qualifier which was abandoned after five minutes amid farcical scenes.

Brazilian health authorities invaded the pitch to stop the game after accusing four of Argentina's English Premier League players of violating the country's COVID-19 quarantine rules.

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and Tottenham Hotspur duo Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso were on the Neo Quimica Arena field as part of Argentina's team when officials from Brazil's health regulator Anvisa halted the match.

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"Following the analysis of the official match reports related to the FIFA World Cup qualifier match between Brazil and Argentina, FIFA can confirm that disciplinary proceedings have been opened involving both member associations," FIFA said on Tuesday.

"The two teams were asked to provide further information on the facts that led to the suspension of the match, which will be gathered and then thoroughly reviewed by FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee," it added.

Anvisa said Brazilian rules make clear that travellers who have been in the UK, South Africa or India during the previous 14 days are forbidden from entering the country unless they are Brazilian citizens or have permanent residency.

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It said Argentine players had made false statements about their previous whereabouts on immigration forms.

Brazil's Federal Police said on Monday they had opened a formal inquiry into the actions of the Argentine players who, a spokesperson said, were deported.

Argentina's Aston Villa midfielder Emiliano Buendia had also travelled from the UK and was in the stands.

World soccer's governing body FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings into Sunday's Brazil v Argentina World Cup qualifier which was abandoned after five minutes amid farcical scenes.

World soccer's governing body FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings into Sunday's Brazil v Argentina World Cup qualifier which was abandoned after five minutes amid farcical scenes. Brazilian health authorities invaded the pitch to stop the game after accusing four of Argentina's English Premier League players of violating the country's COVID-19 quarantine rules. Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and Tottenham Hotspur duo Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso were on the Neo Quimica Arena field as part of Argentina's team when officials from Brazil's health regulator Anvisa halted the match. ALSO READ | Gareth Southgate open-minded about FIFA's biennial World Cup proposal "Following the analysis of the official match reports related to the FIFA World Cup qualifier match between Brazil and Argentina, FIFA can confirm that disciplinary proceedings have been opened involving both member associations," FIFA said on Tuesday. "The two teams were asked to provide further information on the facts that led to the suspension of the match, which will be gathered and then thoroughly reviewed by FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee," it added. Anvisa said Brazilian rules make clear that travellers who have been in the UK, South Africa or India during the previous 14 days are forbidden from entering the country unless they are Brazilian citizens or have permanent residency. ALSO READ | Pele in hospital but no cause for concern, his manager says It said Argentine players had made false statements about their previous whereabouts on immigration forms. Brazil's Federal Police said on Monday they had opened a formal inquiry into the actions of the Argentine players who, a spokesperson said, were deported. Argentina's Aston Villa midfielder Emiliano Buendia had also travelled from the UK and was in the stands.

FIFA opens investigation into abandoned Brazil-Argentina match

FIFA has opened an investigation into the postponement of Argentina's World Cup qualifier with Brazil with their president Gianni Infantino labelling the events "crazy" while Tottenham Hotspur were reported to be ready to take disciplinary action against their Argentine players.

Brazilian health authorities intervened on the pitch on Sunday after accusing four Argentine Premier League players of violating the country's COVID-19 quarantine rules.

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and Tottenham duo Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso were on the Neo Quimica Arena pitch as part of the Argentine line-up when officials from Brazil's health regulator Anvisa walked onto the field and stopped the game around five minutes after kickoff.

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Aston Villa midfielder Emiliano Buendia had also travelled from the UK and was in the stands.

Anvisa said that Brazilian rules make clear that travellers who have been in the UK, South Africa or India during the previous 14 days are forbidden from entering, unless they are Brazilian citizens or have permanent residency.

FIFA said they have received reports from match officials and were gathering further information.

"The information will be analysed by the competent disciplinary bodies and a decision will be taken in due course," FIFA said in a statement.

Infantino, in a video address to the European Club Association's general assembly, said the situation was a reminder of the difficulties the organisation had been facing during the pandemic.

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/explained-health-officials-and-police-invaded-football-pitch-heres-why-argentina-vs-brazil-was-suspended-411125">Explained: Health officials and police invaded football pitch, here's why Argentina vs Brazil was suspended</a>

"We saw what happened with the game between Brazil and Argentine, two of South America's most glorious teams. Some officials, police, security officials entered the pitch after a few minutes of the game to take away some players - it is crazy but we need to deal with these challenges, these issues which come on top of the COVID crisis," Infantino said.

Alejandro Martinez, brother of Emiliano, said that the players were due to fly from Argentina to Croatia later on Monday in order to avoid the ten day mandatory hotel quarantine on return to the UK from a red-list country.

"They will travel to Croatia to do their quarantine there and then go to England," Alejandro told radio station La Oral Deportiva. "That was the conditions set by Aston Villa."

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) said that Martinez and Buendia had been released from the national team, meaning they will not take part in Friday's qualifier against Bolivia.

The tweet from the AFA did not make reference to the two Tottenham players.

The Tottenham players travelled to the game without the permission of their club and the website football.london said the pair could expect fines on their return to England.

Villa and Tottenham did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FIFA has opened an investigation into the postponement of Argentina's World Cup qualifier with Brazil with their president Gianni Infantino labelling the events "crazy" while Tottenham Hotspur were reported to be ready to take disciplinary action against their Argentine players.

FIFA has opened an investigation into the postponement of Argentina's World Cup qualifier with Brazil with their president Gianni Infantino labelling the events "crazy" while Tottenham Hotspur were reported to be ready to take disciplinary action against their Argentine players. Brazilian health authorities intervened on the pitch on Sunday after accusing four Argentine Premier League players of violating the country's COVID-19 quarantine rules. Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and Tottenham duo Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso were on the Neo Quimica Arena pitch as part of the Argentine line-up when officials from Brazil's health regulator Anvisa walked onto the field and stopped the game around five minutes after kickoff. ALSO READ | Argentina vs Brazil: Lionel Messi wears photographer's vest during on-field chaos, Paulo Dybala can't stop laughing - Watch Aston Villa midfielder Emiliano Buendia had also travelled from the UK and was in the stands. Anvisa said that Brazilian rules make clear that travellers who have been in the UK, South Africa or India during the previous 14 days are forbidden from entering, unless they are Brazilian citizens or have permanent residency. FIFA said they have received reports from match officials and were gathering further information. "The information will be analysed by the competent disciplinary bodies and a decision will be taken in due course," FIFA said in a statement. Infantino, in a video address to the European Club Association's general assembly, said the situation was a reminder of the difficulties the organisation had been facing during the pandemic. ALSO READ | Explained: Health officials and police invaded football pitch, here's why Argentina vs Brazil was suspended "We saw what happened with the game between Brazil and Argentine, two of South America's most glorious teams. Some officials, police, security officials entered the pitch after a few minutes of the game to take away some players - it is crazy but we need to deal with these challenges, these issues which come on top of the COVID crisis," Infantino said. Alejandro Martinez, brother of Emiliano, said that the players were due to fly from Argentina to Croatia later on Monday in order to avoid the ten day mandatory hotel quarantine on return to the UK from a red-list country. "They will travel to Croatia to do their quarantine there and then go to England," Alejandro told radio station La Oral Deportiva. "That was the conditions set by Aston Villa." The Argentine Football Association (AFA) said that Martinez and Buendia had been released from the national team, meaning they will not take part in Friday's qualifier against Bolivia. The tweet from the AFA did not make reference to the two Tottenham players. The Tottenham players travelled to the game without the permission of their club and the website football.london said the pair could expect fines on their return to England. Villa and Tottenham did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FIFA chief labels Brazil postponement 'crazy', Spurs set to fine players

Argentina&nbsp;coach Lionel Scaloni lashed out at Brazilian authorities on Sunday following the dramatic suspension of the South American giants' World Cup qualifier in Sao Paulo.

Argentina's game against Brazil was stopped and later abandoned when public health officials from Brazil entered the field of play seeking to remove Albiceleste players.

Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, defender Cristian Romero and midfielder Giovani Lo Celso were among four England-based players in the&nbsp;Argentina&nbsp;squad accused of breaching Brazil's Covid-19 quarantine protocols.

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"It makes me very sad -- we are the victims in the sense that we wanted to play the game, the Brazilian players also wanted to play it and the show was to be played," Scaloni told&nbsp;Argentina's TyCSports channel.

Scaloni said the match "should have been a party for everyone, to enjoy the match with the best in the world".

Scaloni said&nbsp;Argentina, whose players left the field soon after the intervention by public health officials, could not tolerate members of the squad being deported.

"I would like people in&nbsp;Argentina&nbsp;to understand that as a coach I have to defend my players and if people come in saying they wanted to take them away and deport them, there is no chance," he warned.

Scaloni added that at "no time were we told that they could not play the game".

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/explained-health-officials-and-police-invaded-football-pitch-heres-why-argentina-vs-brazil-was-suspended-411125">Explained: Health officials and police invaded football pitch, here's why Argentina vs Brazil was suspended</a>

Sunday's drama unfolded hours after Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) said Premier League players Lo Celso, Martinez, Romero and Emiliano Buendia had provided "false information" upon their entry to Brazil.

However&nbsp;Argentina&nbsp;Football Association (AFA) president Claudio Tapia said the team had followed FIFA protocols.

"It is not possible to speak of any lie," Tapia said.

Tapia said&nbsp;Argentina&nbsp;were due to return to Buenos Aires later Sunday on a charter flight, insisting that the AFA had been "complying with (the protocols) and taking maximum care of our players, so that they can return to their clubs in the best way".

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni lashed out at Brazilian authorities on Sunday following the dramatic suspension of the South American giants' World Cup qualifier in Sao Paulo.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni lashed out at Brazilian authorities on Sunday following the dramatic suspension of the South American giants' World Cup qualifier in Sao Paulo. Argentina's game against Brazil was stopped and later abandoned when public health officials from Brazil entered the field of play seeking to remove Albiceleste players. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, defender Cristian Romero and midfielder Giovani Lo Celso were among four England-based players in the Argentina squad accused of breaching Brazil's Covid-19 quarantine protocols. ALSO READ | Argentina vs Brazil: Lionel Messi wears photographer's vest during on-field chaos, Paulo Dybala can't stop laughing - Watch "It makes me very sad -- we are the victims in the sense that we wanted to play the game, the Brazilian players also wanted to play it and the show was to be played," Scaloni told Argentina's TyCSports channel. Scaloni said the match "should have been a party for everyone, to enjoy the match with the best in the world". Scaloni said Argentina, whose players left the field soon after the intervention by public health officials, could not tolerate members of the squad being deported. "I would like people in Argentina to understand that as a coach I have to defend my players and if people come in saying they wanted to take them away and deport them, there is no chance," he warned. Scaloni added that at "no time were we told that they could not play the game". ALSO READ | Explained: Health officials and police invaded football pitch, here's why Argentina vs Brazil was suspended Sunday's drama unfolded hours after Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) said Premier League players Lo Celso, Martinez, Romero and Emiliano Buendia had provided "false information" upon their entry to Brazil. However Argentina Football Association (AFA) president Claudio Tapia said the team had followed FIFA protocols. "It is not possible to speak of any lie," Tapia said. Tapia said Argentina were due to return to Buenos Aires later Sunday on a charter flight, insisting that the AFA had been "complying with (the protocols) and taking maximum care of our players, so that they can return to their clubs in the best way".

'We're the victims', says Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni after COVID-19 chaos

The much-awaited World Cup qualifier between the South American giants Argentina and Brazil was suspended shortly after kick-off and dramatic scenes erupted on Sunday (September 5) over the controversy related to COVID-19 protocols.

The much-awaited World Cup qualifier between the South American giants Argentina and Brazil was suspended shortly after kick-off and dramatic scenes erupted on Sunday (September 5) over the controversy related to COVID-19 protocols. The Brazilian health authorities interrupted the game within less than ten minutes, accusing a number of English Premier League players of violating the country's COVID-19 quarantine rules and triggering a drama involving team officials and players from both sides. Here's what happened: As soon as the match started at Sao Paulo's Neo Quimica Arena it was suspended. According to Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), the Premier League players — Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero of Tottenham, and Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia — provided "false information" upon their entry to Brazil. Romero, Lo Celso and Martinez were all in Argentina's starting line-up for Sunday's game — prompting the surreal intervention of ANVISA officials. ALSO READ | Bizarre scenes! Brazil-Argentina match halted as police storm on field to arrest 4 Premier League players 🚨⚽️ | NEW: Footage shows Brazilian officials entering the pitch during the Brazil vs Argentina game to allegedly detain 4 Argentinian players who had entered the country from England pic.twitter.com/3X0PkNghmN — Football For All (@FootballlForAll) September 5, 2021 × Now that the Brazil vs Argentina match is officially suspended, let's enjoy this reunion clip of Lionel Messi, Dani Alves & Neymar Jr 💙❤pic.twitter.com/EOaHMcPfp9 — Messaitama🤺🇦🇷 (@messaitama) September 5, 2021 × The four players were accused of failing to disclose that they had spent time in the United Kingdom in the 14 days before they arrived in Brazil, where COVID-19 has claimed more than 580,000 lives. The controversy comes after nine Brazilians based in the Premier League failed to travel to South America following objections from their clubs. Argentinian media outlet TyC Sports reported that the players travelled back with the rest of the squad and had been classified as 'deportees'. Who said what? However, as per the Argentina FA, the group had been in Brazilian territory since Friday (September 3) and they were complying with all of the COVID-19 related protocols and other measures regulated by Conmebol, organisers of the qualifiers. Argentina captain Lionel Messi hit out at the intervention by Brazilian officials. "We've been here for three days, why are you doing this just now?" he said on Argentina's TyC network. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was similarly incensed, telling media that "at no time were we told that they could not play the game." ALSO READ | Neymar Jr responds to fans who 'fat-shamed' him during Brazil vs Chile match The Argentina team arrived back in Buenos Aires during Monday's early hours. Argentina Football Association president Claudio Tapia said the federation had followed FIFA protocols for the game, pushing back at the claim that players had falsified entry records. "It is not possible to speak of any lie," Tapia said. Brazilian officials were unrepentant about the decision to halt the game. "We got to this point because everything that ANVISA directed, from the first moment, was not fulfilled," ANVISA director Antonio Barra Torres said on Brazilian television. The four players "were directed to remain isolated while awaiting deportation, but they did not comply. They went to the stadium and they entered the field, in a series of breaches," the official added. (Image: Brazil's Neymar (L) and Argentina's Lionel Messi talk before their South American qualification football match for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at the Neo Quimica Arena, also known as Corinthians Arena, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on September 5, 2021. Source: AFP) Here's what the COVID-19 rules say: Recently, the Premier League had initially refused to release all players who were set to play international matches in red-listed countries and Brazil is one of them. A government order dating from June 23 prohibits the entry into Brazilian territory of any foreign person from the United Kingdom, India or South Africa, to prevent the spread of variants of the coronavirus. "ANVISA considers that this situation represents a serious health risk and recommends that the local health authorities (of Sao Paulo) order the immediate quarantine of the players, who are prohibited from taking part in any activity and from remaining on Brazilian territory," the agency said in a statement earlier Sunday. The agency also said Argentina's delegation had been warned in a meeting on Saturday that the players at the centre of the controversy must be quarantined and should not play any part in Sunday's game. (Image: Employees of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) enter to the field during the South American qualification football match for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 between Brazil and Argentina at the Neo Quimica Arena, also known as Corinthians Arena, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on September 5, 2021. Source: AFP) When the match will be played? South American football's governing body CONMEBOL said in a statement that the game had been "suspended" but did not say when or if the match would be replayed, or whether either team would forfeit the game. "By decision of the match referee, the match organized by FIFA between Brazil and Argentina for the qualifiers for the World Cup is suspended," CONMEBOL said in a statement. "The referee and the match commissioner will submit a report to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, which will determine the steps to follow. These procedures adhere strictly to current regulations." (inputs from agencies)

Explained: Health officials and police invaded football pitch, here's why Argentina vs Brazil was suspended

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will only allow spectators who will be completely vaccinated against COVID-19, Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani has said.<o:p></o:p>

The Gulf state is in talks to take in one million doses in case global immunisation efforts fall behind, leaving no stones unturned to have a safe and secure World Cup in the year 2022.<o:p></o:p>

Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup between November 21 and December 18 in 2022 with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, in February, saying that matches will be conducted in full stadiums.<o:p></o:p>

However, Qatar PM said that while most countries are expected to be fully vaccinated by then, Qatar will take complete measures to ensure a successful event. Qatar Legacy Ambassador Ronald de Boer further said that ‘everyone is welcome’ at the 2022 World Cup after protests over human rights issues and questions about the safety of the LGBTQ+ community.

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"We are currently negotiating with a company to provide one&nbsp;million doses of Covid-19 vaccines in order to immunise and vaccinate some of those coming to Qatar," he said.<o:p></o:p>

Qatar officials had earlier said that they were hoping to conduct a Covid-free tournament with vaccinations available for the attendees not already inoculated. Notably, Qatar has administered at least 2.8 million doses, according to a Reuters COVID-19 tracker.<o:p></o:p>

Sheikh Khalid further said that the 2021 Arab Cup, to be hosted in Doha in December, would point on Qatar’s preparedness to host the quadrennial event. He added that most of the stadiums have been completed and the Lusail Stadium, scheduled to host the final of 2022 World Cup, was 90 per cent wrapped up

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will only allow spectators who will be completely vaccinated against COVID-19, Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani has said.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will only allow spectators who will be completely vaccinated against COVID-19, Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani has said. The Gulf state is in talks to take in one million doses in case global immunisation efforts fall behind, leaving no stones unturned to have a safe and secure World Cup in the year 2022. Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup between November 21 and December 18 in 2022 with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, in February, saying that matches will be conducted in full stadiums. However, Qatar PM said that while most countries are expected to be fully vaccinated by then, Qatar will take complete measures to ensure a successful event. Qatar Legacy Ambassador Ronald de Boer further said that ‘everyone is welcome’ at the 2022 World Cup after protests over human rights issues and questions about the safety of the LGBTQ+ community. ALSO READ: Legendary sprinter Usain Bolt has twin boys - Thunder and Saint Leo "We are currently negotiating with a company to provide one million doses of Covid-19 vaccines in order to immunise and vaccinate some of those coming to Qatar," he said. Qatar officials had earlier said that they were hoping to conduct a Covid-free tournament with vaccinations available for the attendees not already inoculated. Notably, Qatar has administered at least 2.8 million doses, according to a Reuters COVID-19 tracker. Sheikh Khalid further said that the 2021 Arab Cup, to be hosted in Doha in December, would point on Qatar’s preparedness to host the quadrennial event. He added that most of the stadiums have been completed and the Lusail Stadium, scheduled to host the final of 2022 World Cup, was 90 per cent wrapped up

Football: Only those vaccinated against COVID-19 to be allowed to attend matches in 2022 FIFA World Cup

Qatar is in talks with coronavirus vaccine makers to ensure all fans attending the 2022 World Cup in the country have been vaccinated, the foreign minister said Friday.

The Gulf nation is facing a resurgence of virus cases and deaths despite progress in its mass vaccination programme, forcing authorities to impose a nationwide lockdown.

"We have been negotiating and talking to the vaccination providers on how we can make sure that everyone attending the World Cup is vaccinated," Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said.&nbsp;

"Right now there are programs under development to provide vaccination to all the attendees of the World Cup," he added during the Raisina Dialogue, a virtual event hosted by the Observer Research Foundation.

"We will be able, hopefully, to host a COVID-free event. We also hope that globally the pandemic will start to go down and disappear."&nbsp;

Globally no one vaccine certification system has yet been universally accepted or recognised, though the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass has gained popularity amongst Gulf airlines including Qatar Airways.

As of Friday, 194,930 of Qatar's 2.75 million people have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, with 21,965 currently active cases -- almost one percent of the population.

Over 26,000 vaccine jabs were administered on Friday, bringing the total to 1,209,648 doses, according to official data.

One in five of the 367 deaths Qatar has suffered since the start of the pandemic has been reported this month with officials blaming the more virulent British variant.&nbsp;

Last week Qatar announced the reimposition of strict lockdown measures, banning most indoor activities except retail and work in an effort to contain the virus.

Qatar has defied soaring coronavirus case numbers to stage several high profile global sporting events in recent months, serving as a test bed for different restrictions but also suffering high-profile infection cases.

The wealthy Gulf nation has bucked the trend of more established sporting nations which have cancelled or postponed a slew of leading events, instead hosting soccer, tennis, motorcycling, judo and beach volleyball since January.

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has previously said that measures to contain the coronavirus will need to be taken during the 2022 tournament but did not given details.

"Maybe some precautionary measures have to be taken," he told AFP during the FIFA Club World Cup in Doha in February.

As well as saying unspecified distancing measures could still be in place for next year's World Cup, Infantino suggested FIFA could "concretely" help travelling fans from countries with patchy vaccine rollouts.

"We need to see how the situation looks by then. It's very difficult to foresee now.

"It will take a little bit of time, and we have two years of time to come back to some sort of normality."

Qatar is in talks with coronavirus vaccine makers to ensure all fans attending the 2022 World Cup in the country have been vaccinated, the foreign minister said Friday.

Qatar is in talks with coronavirus vaccine makers to ensure all fans attending the 2022 World Cup in the country have been vaccinated, the foreign minister said Friday. The Gulf nation is facing a resurgence of virus cases and deaths despite progress in its mass vaccination programme, forcing authorities to impose a nationwide lockdown. "We have been negotiating and talking to the vaccination providers on how we can make sure that everyone attending the World Cup is vaccinated," Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said. "Right now there are programs under development to provide vaccination to all the attendees of the World Cup," he added during the Raisina Dialogue, a virtual event hosted by the Observer Research Foundation. "We will be able, hopefully, to host a COVID-free event. We also hope that globally the pandemic will start to go down and disappear." Globally no one vaccine certification system has yet been universally accepted or recognised, though the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass has gained popularity amongst Gulf airlines including Qatar Airways. As of Friday, 194,930 of Qatar's 2.75 million people have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, with 21,965 currently active cases -- almost one percent of the population. Over 26,000 vaccine jabs were administered on Friday, bringing the total to 1,209,648 doses, according to official data. One in five of the 367 deaths Qatar has suffered since the start of the pandemic has been reported this month with officials blaming the more virulent British variant. Last week Qatar announced the reimposition of strict lockdown measures, banning most indoor activities except retail and work in an effort to contain the virus. Qatar has defied soaring coronavirus case numbers to stage several high profile global sporting events in recent months, serving as a test bed for different restrictions but also suffering high-profile infection cases. The wealthy Gulf nation has bucked the trend of more established sporting nations which have cancelled or postponed a slew of leading events, instead hosting soccer, tennis, motorcycling, judo and beach volleyball since January. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has previously said that measures to contain the coronavirus will need to be taken during the 2022 tournament but did not given details. "Maybe some precautionary measures have to be taken," he told AFP during the FIFA Club World Cup in Doha in February. As well as saying unspecified distancing measures could still be in place for next year's World Cup, Infantino suggested FIFA could "concretely" help travelling fans from countries with patchy vaccine rollouts. "We need to see how the situation looks by then. It's very difficult to foresee now. "It will take a little bit of time, and we have two years of time to come back to some sort of normality."

Qatar seeking virus jabs for all World Cup visitors

World Cup fans will be able to watch an unprecedented four games a day on television, spread out over 11 hours, during the group stage of the Qatar 2022 tournament after the schedule was confirmed on Wednesday.

With the relatively short travel distances for the venues in and around Doha, it could be possible for fans who travel to the 32-team tournament to attend multiple games each day.

The early games will kickoff at 1300 local (1000GMT) with the fourth match starting at 2200 local (1900GMT) and finishing just before midnight.

The tournament's opening game on Nov. 21, will be at the 60,000 capacity Al Bayt Stadium, with its distinctive 'tent' style covering.

The final on Dec. 18 will be held at the 80,000 Lusail Stadium, which, like Al Bayt, will also host a semi-final.

"The World Cup is always a festival of football, a real celebration for the fans who come on-site and watch. In Qatar, with the compact nature, this is going to be amplified even more with 32 teams and 32 sets of supporters all in and around Doha," said FIFA Chief Tournaments and Events Officer, Colin Smith.

FIFA will wait until the draw for the tournament is held in March or April of 2022 before assigning specific games to venues and time-slots. That will enable them to better align games with time zones for domestic television partners of the competing teams.

The tournament was switched from it's usual June-July slot due to the heat in the Gulf state and is the first that will be held in the middle of the European season.

Nasser Al Khater, CEO of the Qatar World Cup organising company, said plans for the tournament were well on schedule with 90% of the work finished on roads and infrastructure.

"When we talk about the stadiums, more than 85% of the work has been completed and really now, the last two years, we're focusing on our operation readiness and making sure we get the fan experience plans in place," he said.

World Cup fans will be able to watch an unprecedented four games a day on television, spread out over 11 hours, during the group stage of the Qatar 2022 tournament after the schedule was confirmed on Wednesday.

World Cup fans will be able to watch an unprecedented four games a day on television, spread out over 11 hours, during the group stage of the Qatar 2022 tournament after the schedule was confirmed on Wednesday. With the relatively short travel distances for the venues in and around Doha, it could be possible for fans who travel to the 32-team tournament to attend multiple games each day. The early games will kickoff at 1300 local (1000GMT) with the fourth match starting at 2200 local (1900GMT) and finishing just before midnight. The tournament's opening game on Nov. 21, will be at the 60,000 capacity Al Bayt Stadium, with its distinctive 'tent' style covering. The final on Dec. 18 will be held at the 80,000 Lusail Stadium, which, like Al Bayt, will also host a semi-final. "The World Cup is always a festival of football, a real celebration for the fans who come on-site and watch. In Qatar, with the compact nature, this is going to be amplified even more with 32 teams and 32 sets of supporters all in and around Doha," said FIFA Chief Tournaments and Events Officer, Colin Smith. FIFA will wait until the draw for the tournament is held in March or April of 2022 before assigning specific games to venues and time-slots. That will enable them to better align games with time zones for domestic television partners of the competing teams. The tournament was switched from it's usual June-July slot due to the heat in the Gulf state and is the first that will be held in the middle of the European season. Nasser Al Khater, CEO of the Qatar World Cup organising company, said plans for the tournament were well on schedule with 90% of the work finished on roads and infrastructure. "When we talk about the stadiums, more than 85% of the work has been completed and really now, the last two years, we're focusing on our operation readiness and making sure we get the fan experience plans in place," he said.

Four games a day confirmed for 2022 World Cup in Qatar

World Cup organisers in Qatar reported the first coronavirus death of a worker involved in construction of 2022 tournament venues on Thursday.

A source close to the Qatari tournament organisers told AFP that 1,102 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed among workers at tournament projects with 121 infections still active.

First reported by the newly relaunched Doha News, a site popular among expatriates in Qatar, the victim was an engineer in his fifties who had no underlying medical conditions.

Qatar has one of the highest per capita infection rates in the world with 3.3 percent of its 2.75 million population having tested positive.

Most have since recovered with only 17,591 active cases reported in the latest official statistics alongside 104 deaths.

"Sadly, on June 11, 2020, a 51-year-old specialist engineer employed by the contractor Conspel, tragically died after contracting COVID-19," the Qatari organisation responsible for organising the 2022 tournament said in a statement.

"He had worked on Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy projects since October 2019 and had no underlying health issues. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends."

His nationality was not disclosed.

The Qatari organisers reported the first infections among its workforce on April 15 with five cases across three stadium projects.

Work continues at 2022 sites but has slowed to allow virus containment measures including screening and social distancing to be observed with Qatari officials saying preparations are nevertheless more than 80 percent complete.

Organisers have removed all high-risk workers from projects on full pay, undertake temperature checks on workers twice daily, and imposed distancing rules in dining halls and staff transport to limit the virus' spread.&nbsp;

Construction at infrastructure to stage the tournament continued through the crisis even as Qatar halted non-essential retail and mosques, parks and restaurants closed.

Qatar has begun a cautious reopening programme with socially distanced worship permitted in some Mosques and non-essential retail permitted.

Cafes and restaurants are due to reopen subject to strict controls from July 1.

The timings of the competition, due to be held in November and December of 2022, remain unchanged by the coronavirus pandemic which has already forced the postponement of the European football championships and the Tokyo Olympics.&nbsp;

Both will now take place in 2021. &nbsp;

World Cup organisers in Qatar reported the first coronavirus death of a worker involved in construction of 2022 tournament venues on Thursday. A source close to the Qatari tournament organisers told AFP that 1,102 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed among workers at tournament projects with 121 infections still active.

World Cup organisers in Qatar reported the first coronavirus death of a worker involved in construction of 2022 tournament venues on Thursday. A source close to the Qatari tournament organisers told AFP that 1,102 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed among workers at tournament projects with 121 infections still active. First reported by the newly relaunched Doha News, a site popular among expatriates in Qatar, the victim was an engineer in his fifties who had no underlying medical conditions. Qatar has one of the highest per capita infection rates in the world with 3.3 percent of its 2.75 million population having tested positive. Most have since recovered with only 17,591 active cases reported in the latest official statistics alongside 104 deaths. "Sadly, on June 11, 2020, a 51-year-old specialist engineer employed by the contractor Conspel, tragically died after contracting COVID-19," the Qatari organisation responsible for organising the 2022 tournament said in a statement. "He had worked on Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy projects since October 2019 and had no underlying health issues. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends." His nationality was not disclosed. The Qatari organisers reported the first infections among its workforce on April 15 with five cases across three stadium projects. Work continues at 2022 sites but has slowed to allow virus containment measures including screening and social distancing to be observed with Qatari officials saying preparations are nevertheless more than 80 percent complete. Organisers have removed all high-risk workers from projects on full pay, undertake temperature checks on workers twice daily, and imposed distancing rules in dining halls and staff transport to limit the virus' spread. Construction at infrastructure to stage the tournament continued through the crisis even as Qatar halted non-essential retail and mosques, parks and restaurants closed. Qatar has begun a cautious reopening programme with socially distanced worship permitted in some Mosques and non-essential retail permitted. Cafes and restaurants are due to reopen subject to strict controls from July 1. The timings of the competition, due to be held in November and December of 2022, remain unchanged by the coronavirus pandemic which has already forced the postponement of the European football championships and the Tokyo Olympics. Both will now take place in 2021.

Qatar confirms first virus death among World Cup workforce

Qatar announced the completion of its third stadium for the 2022 World Cup, state media reported late Thursday, as the emirate prepared to mark three years of a regional feud.

Education City stadium had been due to host the semi-final of the Club World Cup on December 18, but its opening was postponed because of delays to certification.

"The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and the Qatar Foundation announce the completion of the preparations for the third FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium, located in Education City," the state-run Qatar News Agency reported.

The Education City ground, named for the surrounding university and research campuses, will host fixtures through to the quarter-finals.

After the tournament, half of its 40,000 seats will be donated to build stadiums in developing countries.

Two and a half years before the World Cup kicks off, Qatar has already launched the brand new 40,000-capacity Al-Janoub stadium and the refurbished Khalifa International ground.

Five new stadiums remain under construction.

Friday marked the third anniversary of a Saudi-led effort to isolate Qatar over claims it supports radical Islamist movements and is too close to Iran. Doha denies the claims.

On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia along with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut diplomatic ties, closed their airspace and borders to Qatar and severed economic links.

Despite several signs of reconciliation, including Saudi, the UAE and Bahrain participating in a regional football tournament in Doha last year, the dispute remains deadlocked.

Qatar announced the completion of its third stadium for the 2022 World Cup, state media reported late Thursday, as the emirate prepared to mark three years of a regional feud.

Qatar announced the completion of its third stadium for the 2022 World Cup, state media reported late Thursday, as the emirate prepared to mark three years of a regional feud. Education City stadium had been due to host the semi-final of the Club World Cup on December 18, but its opening was postponed because of delays to certification. "The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and the Qatar Foundation announce the completion of the preparations for the third FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium, located in Education City," the state-run Qatar News Agency reported. The Education City ground, named for the surrounding university and research campuses, will host fixtures through to the quarter-finals. After the tournament, half of its 40,000 seats will be donated to build stadiums in developing countries. Two and a half years before the World Cup kicks off, Qatar has already launched the brand new 40,000-capacity Al-Janoub stadium and the refurbished Khalifa International ground. Five new stadiums remain under construction. Friday marked the third anniversary of a Saudi-led effort to isolate Qatar over claims it supports radical Islamist movements and is too close to Iran. Doha denies the claims. On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia along with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut diplomatic ties, closed their airspace and borders to Qatar and severed economic links. Despite several signs of reconciliation, including Saudi, the UAE and Bahrain participating in a regional football tournament in Doha last year, the dispute remains deadlocked.

Qatar completes third World Cup stadium

An ambassador for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the tournament's organisers said on Thursday.

Retired Qatari midfielder Adel Khamis, 54, "was unfortunately diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19," the Supreme Committee for the organisation of the 2022 tournament wrote in a tweet.

"We wish a speedy to all those affected."

The number of confirmed infections among those involved in construction for 2022 facilities stands at eight across three stadium projects, but organisers have not given an updated toll since April 17.

Qatar has reported 13,409 cases of COVID-19, 1,372 recoveries and 10 deaths.

Work on Qatar's World Cup stadiums and mega-projects linked to the tournament has continued apace despite tough social distancing rules to stem the spread of coronavirus among the largely migrant workforce.

The supreme committee responsible for delivering the tournament said it "is reviewing the situation on a continuous basis and will take the necessary measures to protect the health and safety of all construction workers and direct staff".

Those measures "may include temporary suspension of work as and when required," it added in a statement.

Khamis is one of the public faces of the 2022 tournament along with fellow ambassadors Tim Cahill of Australia and Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez.

Construction has continued through the health crisis even as non-essential retail has been halted and mosques, parks and restaurants have closed.

An ambassador for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the tournament's organisers said on Thursday. Retired Qatari midfielder Adel Khamis, 54, "was unfortunately diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19," the Supreme Committee for the organisation of the 2022 tournament wrote in a tweet.

An ambassador for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the tournament's organisers said on Thursday. Retired Qatari midfielder Adel Khamis, 54, "was unfortunately diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19," the Supreme Committee for the organisation of the 2022 tournament wrote in a tweet. "We wish a speedy to all those affected." The number of confirmed infections among those involved in construction for 2022 facilities stands at eight across three stadium projects, but organisers have not given an updated toll since April 17. Qatar has reported 13,409 cases of COVID-19, 1,372 recoveries and 10 deaths. Work on Qatar's World Cup stadiums and mega-projects linked to the tournament has continued apace despite tough social distancing rules to stem the spread of coronavirus among the largely migrant workforce. The supreme committee responsible for delivering the tournament said it "is reviewing the situation on a continuous basis and will take the necessary measures to protect the health and safety of all construction workers and direct staff". Those measures "may include temporary suspension of work as and when required," it added in a statement. Khamis is one of the public faces of the 2022 tournament along with fellow ambassadors Tim Cahill of Australia and Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez. Construction has continued through the health crisis even as non-essential retail has been halted and mosques, parks and restaurants have closed.

World Cup 2022 ambassador tests positive for coronavirus

Qatar has detected three more coronavirus cases among workers on World Cup stadiums, organisers said Thursday, bringing the number of infections among those involved in 2022 tournament construction to eight.

The Gulf nation has reported seven deaths from the COVID-19 disease and 4,103 cases in total, announcing the first infections in stadium workers on Wednesday.

Building work for the stadiums and infrastructure to stage the tournament has continued through the crisis even as non-essential retail has been halted and mosques, parks and restaurants have closed.

"The Supreme Committee for Delivery &amp; Legacy (SC) has confirmed that two staff members who work for a SC contractor have tested positive for COVID-19," organisers said in a statement.&nbsp;

"In addition, six workers on SC projects have tested positive."

On Wednesday the SC said that staff at three of the seven stadiums being built from scratch for the 2022 tournament had been affected.

The SC was following health ministry guidance to respond to the cases and all those affected would continue to be paid and receive free healthcare, the statement added.

The timings of the competition, due to be held in November and December of 2022, remain unchanged by the coronavirus pandemic which has already forced the postponement of the European football championships and the Tokyo Olympics.&nbsp;

Qatar has detected three more coronavirus cases among workers on World Cup stadiums, organisers said Thursday, bringing the number of infections among those involved in 2022 tournament construction to eight.

Qatar has detected three more coronavirus cases among workers on World Cup stadiums, organisers said Thursday, bringing the number of infections among those involved in 2022 tournament construction to eight. The Gulf nation has reported seven deaths from the COVID-19 disease and 4,103 cases in total, announcing the first infections in stadium workers on Wednesday. Building work for the stadiums and infrastructure to stage the tournament has continued through the crisis even as non-essential retail has been halted and mosques, parks and restaurants have closed. "The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) has confirmed that two staff members who work for a SC contractor have tested positive for COVID-19," organisers said in a statement. "In addition, six workers on SC projects have tested positive." On Wednesday the SC said that staff at three of the seven stadiums being built from scratch for the 2022 tournament had been affected. The SC was following health ministry guidance to respond to the cases and all those affected would continue to be paid and receive free healthcare, the statement added. The timings of the competition, due to be held in November and December of 2022, remain unchanged by the coronavirus pandemic which has already forced the postponement of the European football championships and the Tokyo Olympics.

Qatar reports three new virus cases at World Cup sites

The Red Devils' have decided not to travel to Qatar amidst heightened tensions after Irani General Qassem Soleimani was killed in drone strikes executed by the United States.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/fa-cup-solskjaer-needs-time-to-make-lasting-impact-at-manchester-united-guardiola-272687">FA cup: Solskjaer needs time to make lasting impact at Manchester United -&nbsp;Guardiola</a> 
 
The players are also asked not to go to the Middle East for vacationing during the days off at the start of next month before the beginning of the training camp.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/qatari-emir-in-iran-de-escalation-is-the-only-solution-273833">Qatari emir in Iran: 'De-escalation is the only solution'</a> 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/.../fa-cup-gunners-push-through-leeds-272669">Manchester United</a> boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “I am going to give them a few days off. I don’t know where they will all scatter around but we will stay in Europe. 
 
“If there is one thing that worries me it’s not on the football pitch, there are other things that worry me more than football. 
 
Solskjaer plans to set the training camp in Europe that has a more settled climate than what Manchester has to offer. 
 
“We were looking at the Middle East but that is not going to happen.” 
 
This is a big blow for Qatar which is the venue for the World Cup in 2022. The fear of countries backing out to play the World Cup if the tensions remain scares the Arabs. The United States have already dumped their plans to train in Qatar. 
 
Manchester United were looking forward to being in Qatar because of the weather and the highly-rated Aspire sports arena. 
 
Stadiums in Qatar which will host the World Cup are designed based on its respective cities tradition. 
 
Aspire sports Arena is the largest indoor multi-purpose dome in Qatar. 
 
Qatar has already been surrounded by a lot of controversies regarding the hosting of the World Cup.

The Red Devils' have decided not to travel to Qatar amidst heightened tensions after Irani General Qassem Soleimani was killed in drone strikes executed by the United States.

The Red Devils' have decided not to travel to Qatar amidst heightened tensions after Irani General Qassem Soleimani was killed in drone strikes executed by the United States. Also read: FA cup: Solskjaer needs time to make lasting impact at Manchester United - Guardiola The players are also asked not to go to the Middle East for vacationing during the days off at the start of next month before the beginning of the training camp. Also read: Qatari emir in Iran: 'De-escalation is the only solution' Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “I am going to give them a few days off. I don’t know where they will all scatter around but we will stay in Europe. “If there is one thing that worries me it’s not on the football pitch, there are other things that worry me more than football. Solskjaer plans to set the training camp in Europe that has a more settled climate than what Manchester has to offer. “We were looking at the Middle East but that is not going to happen.” This is a big blow for Qatar which is the venue for the World Cup in 2022. The fear of countries backing out to play the World Cup if the tensions remain scares the Arabs. The United States have already dumped their plans to train in Qatar. Manchester United were looking forward to being in Qatar because of the weather and the highly-rated Aspire sports arena. Stadiums in Qatar which will host the World Cup are designed based on its respective cities tradition. Aspire sports Arena is the largest indoor multi-purpose dome in Qatar. Qatar has already been surrounded by a lot of controversies regarding the hosting of the World Cup.

Manchester United scrap plans to set training camps in Middle East amid tensions

FIFA World Cup 2022: One of the most controversial world cups in football history

Ex-UEFA chief <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/michel-platini-says-cleared-by-swiss-authorities-plans-return-139946">Michel Platini was arrested </a>Tuesday in connection with a probe into the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a source close to the investigation said.

The French football legend elected to lead European football's governing body in 2007 was taken into custody by French anti-corruption police investigating the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to the gas-rich Gulf state.

Qatar was named the host in a decision that triggered controversy over its suitability amid allegations of corruption.

Platini, 63, led UEFA until 2015 when he was banned from football for four years for ethics violations including receiving $2 million payment from the disgraced former head of FIFA Sepp Blatter.

Qatar has been accused of buying votes in its bid to stage the World Cup and a subsequent report by US independent investigator Michael Garcia unearthed an array of suspect financial dealings, many linked to Sandro Rosell, the ex-Barcelona president who served as a consultant for Qatar.

Platini, a triple Ballon d'Or winner, was expected to succeed Blatter as FIFA president in 2016 before his fall from grace. He has been battling to clear his name ever since.

Ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini was arrested Tuesday in connection with a probe into the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a source close to the investigation said.

Ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini was arrested Tuesday in connection with a probe into the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a source close to the investigation said. The French football legend elected to lead European football's governing body in 2007 was taken into custody by French anti-corruption police investigating the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to the gas-rich Gulf state. Qatar was named the host in a decision that triggered controversy over its suitability amid allegations of corruption. Platini, 63, led UEFA until 2015 when he was banned from football for four years for ethics violations including receiving $2 million payment from the disgraced former head of FIFA Sepp Blatter. Qatar has been accused of buying votes in its bid to stage the World Cup and a subsequent report by US independent investigator Michael Garcia unearthed an array of suspect financial dealings, many linked to Sandro Rosell, the ex-Barcelona president who served as a consultant for Qatar. Platini, a triple Ballon d'Or winner, was expected to succeed Blatter as FIFA president in 2016 before his fall from grace. He has been battling to clear his name ever since.

Ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini arrested in 2022 Qatar World Cup probe

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be held with 32 participating teams and not an<a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/sports/as-fifa-eyes-world-cup-expansion-rights-groups-say-workers-at-risk-202898&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiNwOf207DiAhU17HMBHWOdDz4QFjACegQIDxAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw1e_UYFymD8ahyHd2Tg4ICL"> expanded 48 teams,</a> organisers FIFA said on Wednesday.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino had proposed expanding the tournament and explored the idea of adding additional host nations.

But the sport's world ruling body said in a statement,&nbsp;"Following a thorough and comprehensive consultation process with the involvement of all the relevant stakeholders, it was concluded that under the current circumstances such a proposal could not be made now."

FIFA and Qatar also looked at whether the Gulf state could host an expanded tournament alone by changing the normal requirements for facilities.

"A joint analysis, in this respect, concluded that due to the advanced stage of preparations and the need for a detailed assessment of the potential logistical impact on the host country, more time would be required and a decision could not be taken before the deadline of June," FIFA said.

"It was, therefore, decided not to further pursue this option", <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/sports/chelsea-lose-transfer-ban-appeal-but-can-register-minor-players-says-fifa-217035&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiNwOf207DiAhU17HMBHWOdDz4QFjABegQIEBAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw10nVsQJMu9jYDbYDXgBbyk">FIFA </a>added.

Infantino began to back away from the idea in March when after a FIFA Council meeting in Miami he said,&nbsp;“If it happens -&nbsp;fantastic. If it doesn’t happen -&nbsp;fantastic also”.

Qatar World Cup organisers said they had always been open to an expanded tournament if a "viable operating model" had been found.

"A joint analysis concluded that due to the advanced stage of preparations and the need for a detailed assessment of the potential logistical impact on Qatar, more time would be required and a decision could not be taken before the deadline of June. It was, therefore, decided not to further pursue this option," they said in a statement.

"With just three and a half years to go until kick off, Qatar remains as committed as ever to ensuring the 32-team FIFA World Cup in 2022 is one of the best tournaments ever and one that makes the entire Arab world proud", the statement added.

The 2026 World Cup, to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, is scheduled to feature 48 teams and given a large number of stadiums available is unlikely to face any logistical problems.

The obstacles to a 48-team tournament in Qatar were numerous and some of the natural partners for joint-hosting in the Gulf were ruled out due to a deep political and economic rift in the region.

The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and non-Gulf state Egypt cut political, trade and transport ties with Qatar in June 2017.

Those countries accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, which it denies.

FIFA’s study said the blockade would need to be lifted before there was any chance of those countries hosting matches.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be held with 32 participating teams and not an expanded 48 teams, organisers FIFA said on Wednesday. FIFA President Gianni Infantino had proposed expanding the tournament and explored the idea of adding additional host nations.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be held with 32 participating teams and not an expanded 48 teams, organisers FIFA said on Wednesday. FIFA President Gianni Infantino had proposed expanding the tournament and explored the idea of adding additional host nations. But the sport's world ruling body said in a statement, "Following a thorough and comprehensive consultation process with the involvement of all the relevant stakeholders, it was concluded that under the current circumstances such a proposal could not be made now." FIFA and Qatar also looked at whether the Gulf state could host an expanded tournament alone by changing the normal requirements for facilities. "A joint analysis, in this respect, concluded that due to the advanced stage of preparations and the need for a detailed assessment of the potential logistical impact on the host country, more time would be required and a decision could not be taken before the deadline of June," FIFA said. "It was, therefore, decided not to further pursue this option", FIFA added. Infantino began to back away from the idea in March when after a FIFA Council meeting in Miami he said, “If it happens - fantastic. If it doesn’t happen - fantastic also”. Qatar World Cup organisers said they had always been open to an expanded tournament if a "viable operating model" had been found. "A joint analysis concluded that due to the advanced stage of preparations and the need for a detailed assessment of the potential logistical impact on Qatar, more time would be required and a decision could not be taken before the deadline of June. It was, therefore, decided not to further pursue this option," they said in a statement. "With just three and a half years to go until kick off, Qatar remains as committed as ever to ensuring the 32-team FIFA World Cup in 2022 is one of the best tournaments ever and one that makes the entire Arab world proud", the statement added. The 2026 World Cup, to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, is scheduled to feature 48 teams and given a large number of stadiums available is unlikely to face any logistical problems. The obstacles to a 48-team tournament in Qatar were numerous and some of the natural partners for joint-hosting in the Gulf were ruled out due to a deep political and economic rift in the region. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and non-Gulf state Egypt cut political, trade and transport ties with Qatar in June 2017. Those countries accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, which it denies. FIFA’s study said the blockade would need to be lifted before there was any chance of those countries hosting matches.

FIFA to stick with 32 teams for 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar

Former Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez says FIFA should abandon a proposal to increase the number of teams at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 from 32.

The World Cup will feature 48 teams for the 2026 edition, to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, but FIFA President Gianni Infantino said last week increasing the number of teams for the 2022 tournament was "feasible".

Former Barcelona great Xavi, who won the World Cup with Spain in 2010 and is seeing out his career in Qatar with top-flight club Al Sadd, said 48 teams would not be the right option for 2022, however.

"It's too much and too long. Imagine 48 teams in Qatar, it will not be good in my opinion," he told reporters on Monday.

"It's still for the organisers to decide, but for now Qatar is doing everything to prepare for 32 teams and it will be difficult to change it for more teams. Also, it's good for football to have 32. That's more than enough."

Should FIFA and Qatari organisers agree on a proposal to increase the number of teams, it would be put to a vote at the FIFA Congress in Paris on June 5.

Xavi, who was in Mumbai for a promotional event for Generation Amazing, a legacy programme initiated by Qatar 2022 organisers, also expected Qatar to acquit themselves well on the field at the tournament.

The tiny Gulf state stunned four-times champions Japan to win this year's Asian Cup and Xavi was not surprised by their breakthrough success.

"I thought the football there was the worst when I first went there," the 39-year-old said. "But they've improved a lot and very quickly since then, everybody saw it at the Asian Cup."

Former Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez says FIFA should abandon a proposal to increase the number of teams at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 from 32. The World Cup will feature 48 teams for the 2026 edition, to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, but FIFA President Gianni Infantino said last week increasing the number of teams for the 2022 tournament was "feasible".

Former Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez says FIFA should abandon a proposal to increase the number of teams at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 from 32. The World Cup will feature 48 teams for the 2026 edition, to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, but FIFA President Gianni Infantino said last week increasing the number of teams for the 2022 tournament was "feasible". Former Barcelona great Xavi, who won the World Cup with Spain in 2010 and is seeing out his career in Qatar with top-flight club Al Sadd, said 48 teams would not be the right option for 2022, however. "It's too much and too long. Imagine 48 teams in Qatar, it will not be good in my opinion," he told reporters on Monday. "It's still for the organisers to decide, but for now Qatar is doing everything to prepare for 32 teams and it will be difficult to change it for more teams. Also, it's good for football to have 32. That's more than enough." Should FIFA and Qatari organisers agree on a proposal to increase the number of teams, it would be put to a vote at the FIFA Congress in Paris on June 5. Xavi, who was in Mumbai for a promotional event for Generation Amazing, a legacy programme initiated by Qatar 2022 organisers, also expected Qatar to acquit themselves well on the field at the tournament. The tiny Gulf state stunned four-times champions Japan to win this year's Asian Cup and Xavi was not surprised by their breakthrough success. "I thought the football there was the worst when I first went there," the 39-year-old said. "But they've improved a lot and very quickly since then, everybody saw it at the Asian Cup."

Xavi Hernandez says 48-team Qatar World Cup would be too long

With the 2018 World Cup in Russia behind it, the soccer world’s focus shifts to the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Politics and the Gulf’s internecine political and legal battles have already shaped debate about FIFA’s controversial awarding of World Cup hosting rights to Qatar. The battles highlight not only the sport’s dominance in the Middle East by autocratic leaders but also the incestuous relationship between politics and sports that is at the root of multiple scandals that have rocked the sports world for much of this decade and compromised good governance in international sports.

Three men symbolise the importance of soccer to Gulf autocrats who see the sport as a way to project their countries in a positive light on the international stage, harness its popular appeal in their cultural and public diplomacy campaigns, and leverage it as a pillar of their efforts to garner soft power: Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his nemeses, United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Saudi sports czar, Turki al-Sheikh, one of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s closest associates.

To be sure, the tension between Qatar and its Gulf detractors was spilling onto the soccer pitch long before the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt took their opposition to Qatari policies to a new level with the imposition in June 2017 of a diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar. Since then, debate about the Qatari World Cup has been further politicised with the Gulf crisis driving efforts to deprive Qatar of economic and soft power benefits it derives from its hosting of the tournament, if not of the right to host the mega-sports event.

The UAE-Saudi efforts took on added significance as Qatar and its detractors settled in for the long haul. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt will likely face difficult choices if the Gulf crisis persists when the World Cup, the first such mega-tournament to be held in the Middle East, kicks off in Doha in late 2022.

Difficult choices

The choice would involve potential political risk. It would be between maintaining the boycott that has cut off all air, sea and land links between Qatar and its detractors at the expense of fans in a soccer-crazy part of the world in which little evokes the deep-seated emotions associated with religion and football or effectively breaching the embargo to evade political backlash and ensure that supporters have access to a sports milestone in the region’s history. The starkness of the boycotting states’ dilemma would be magnified if any one of them were to qualify for the Qatar World Cup and would be enhanced if they were to play the host country or, for example, Iran.

The issue of ability to attend is magnified by expectations that the demography of fans attending the World Cup in Qatar may very well be different from that at past tournaments. Qatar is likely to attract a far greater number of fans from the Middle East as well as Africa and Asia. The Asian Football Confederation’s Competition Committee has already urged governments to exempt football teams from travel bans and would almost certainly do the same for fans.

As a result, the UAE-Saudi effort to undermine the Qatar World Cup is about more than seeking to deliver a body blow to Qatar. It is also about avoiding being further tied up into knots in an anti-Qatari campaign that has so far failed to break the Gulf state’s resolve, force it to concede, and garner international support. The campaign is multi-pronged and doesn’t shy away from violating laws as is evident in Saudi bootlegging to deprive beIN, the sports franchise of Qatar’s state-owned Al Jazeera television network, of the fruits of acquired rights to broadcast World Cup tournaments and European competitions at the risk of being penalized and/or taken to court by the likes of FIFA and the English Premier League. Saudi media reports that the government has launched an anti-piracy campaign, confiscating more than 4,000 illegal receivers that hacked beIN failed to put an end to the bootlegging.

Signalling the political importance that men like the crown princes and Sheikh Tamim attribute to sports, a former top UAE security official, Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan, suggested that the only way to resolve the Gulf crisis would be for Qatar to surrender its World Cup hosting rights. "If the World Cup leaves Qatar, Qatar's crisis will be over ... because the crisis is created to get away from it," Khalfan said.

Khalfan spoke at a time that leaked documents from the email account of Yousef Al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador in Washington and a close associate of the country’s crown prince, revealed a UAE plan to undermine Qatar’s currency by manipulating the value of bonds and derivatives. If successfully executed, the plan would have allowed Qatar’s distractors to argue that the Gulf state’s financial problems called into question its ability to organize the World Cup.

Serving national interests

Al-Sheikh, the chairman of the kingdom’s General Sport Authority, makes no bones about harnessing sports to serve the kingdom’s interests. With a career in security rather than sports, he was unequivocal in his assertion on the eve of Saudi Arabia’s debut in the 2018 World Cup in Russia that he made decisions based on what he deemed “Saudi Arabia’s best interest,” reaffirming the inextricable relationship between sports and politics.

Barely 24 hours before the World Cup’s opening match, Saudi Arabia made good on Al-Sheikh’s assertion that the kingdom’s international sports policy would be driven by former US President George W. Bush’s post 9/11 principle of “you are either with us or against us.”

With Morocco’s bid for the 2026 World Cup in mind, Mr. Al-Sheikh had warned that "to be in the grey area is no longer acceptable to us. There are those who were mistaken in their direction … If you want support, it'll be in Riyadh. What you're doing is a waste of time…," &nbsp;Al-Sheikh said. &nbsp;Al-Sheikh was referring to Morocco’s refusal to join the anti-Qatari campaign. Adopting a Saudi Arabia First approach, Mr. Al-Sheikh noted that the United States “is our biggest and strongest ally.” He recalled that when the World Cup was played in 1994 in nine American cities, the US “was one of our favourites. The fans were numerous, and the Saudi team achieved good results.”

Al-Sheikh was manoeuvring at the same time to ensure that the kingdom has greater say in international soccer governance, including issues such as the fate of the Qatari World Cup and a push to extend international isolation of Iran to the realm of sports. To do so, Saudi Arabia backed a proposal to speed up the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams from 32, which is scheduled to kick off in 2026, by making it already applicable to the 2022 World Cup. Saudi Arabia hopes that the expansion would significantly complicate Qatari preparations for the event. Implementing the expansion in 2022 would strengthen UAE and Saudi efforts to petition FIFA to force Qatar to agree to co-hosting of the World Cup by other Gulf states, a proposal that was incorporated in the UAE plan to undermine Qatar’s currency.

In an indication of things to come, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in early 2018 thwarted a UAE-Saudi attempt to get Asian tournament matches that were scheduled to be hosted by Qatar moved to a neutral venue. The AFC warned the two countries that they would be penalized if they failed to play in Doha or host Qatari teams.

Al-Sheikh’s moves were part of a two-pronged Saudi-UAE effort. Global tech investor Softbank, which counts Saudi Arabia and the UAE among its largest investors, is believed to be behind a $25 billion proposal embraced by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to revamp the FIFA Club World Cup and launch of a Global Nations League tournament. If approved, the proposal would give Saudi Arabia a significant voice in global soccer governance.

Complimenting the Saudi FIFA bid is an effort to expand the kingdom’s influence in the 47-nation AFC, the largest of the world soccer body’s constituent regional elements. To do so, Saudi Arabia unsuccessfully tried to create a new regional bloc, the South West Asian Football Federation (SWAFF), a potential violation of FIFA and AFC rules. The federation would have been made up of members of both the AFC and the Amman-based West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) that groups all Middle Eastern nations except for Israel and is headed by Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, a prominent advocate of soccer governance reform.

The initiative fell apart when the Asian members of SWAFF walked out in October 2018 in the wake of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The killing could also jeopardize Saudi efforts to gain control of the AFC with the Al-Sheikh-backed candidacy of Saudi Football Federation chief Adel Ezzat, who resigned in August 2018 to run for the office.

Benefits outstrip reputational risk

Al-Sheikh and his boss, Prince Mohammed, share with the crown prince’s UAE counterpart and namesake, a belief that the public diplomacy and soft power fruits of harnessing sports outstrip reputational risks. Simon Pearce, Abu Dhabi’s director of strategic communications and a director of Manchester City, the British club bought by UAE Crown Prince Mohammed’s brother but controlled by the de facto Emirati ruler’s men, said as much in leaked emails to Al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador in Washington.

The emails discussed the UAE’s registration of a new soccer club, New York City Football Club, as the United States’ Major League Soccer newest franchise. Mr. Pearce argued that Abu Dhabi’s interests in the US political environment are best served by associating New York City FC with City Football Group, the Abu Dhabi government’s soccer investment vehicle, rather than the government itself to evade criticism stemming from the Emirates’ criminalization of homosexuality, its less than stellar record on women’s rights and its refusal to formally recognize Israel despite maintaining close security and commercial relations with the Jewish state.

The UAE’s sports-related investments, guided by the crown prince, much like the acquisition of important Qatari sports stakes on the behest of Sheikh Tamim also give Gulf states political leverage and create additional commercial opportunity. The investments constitute the flip side of large amounts of Gulf money being channelled to influential think tanks, particularly in Washington. In a series of notes in 2012, Mr. &nbsp;Pearce advised Prince Mohammed, a man obsessed with perceived threats posed by any form of political Islam and a driving force in the campaign against Qatar, to tempt than British prime minister David Cameron to counter what he described as Islamist infiltration of the BBC’s Arabic service in exchange for lucrative arms and oil deals.

To illustrate the UAE and Qatar’s sway in European soccer, Nicholas McGeehan, an independent researcher and former Human Rights Watch executive focussed on the region, looked at recent bookies odds for the Champions League. Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City was the favourite followed by Qatar’s Paris Saint-Germain. Third up was Bayern Munich, whose shirts are sponsored by Qatar, fourth was Barcelona, which recently ended a seven-year sponsorship deal with Qatar, and fifth Real Madrid that sold the naming rights to its new stadium to Abu Dhabi.

Saudi and UAE public relations efforts to generate public pressure for a deprival of Qatari hosting rights were at times mired in controversy. The launch in May of the Foundation for Sports Integrity by Jamie Fuller, a prominent Australian campaigner for a clean-up of global soccer governance, backfired amid allegations of Saudi and UAE financial backing and Fuller’s refusal to disclose his source of funding.

Saudi and UAE media together with UK tabloid The Sun heralded the launch in a poche London hotel that involved a reiteration of assertions of Qatari wrongdoing in its successful World Cup bid. Media like Abu Dhabi’s The National and Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabiya projected the launch as pressure on FIFA to deprive Qatar of its hosting rights. “It is no secret that football’s governing body is rotten to the core. (FIFA) will rightly come under renewed pressure to strip Qatar of the competition and carry out an internal investigation in the wake of the most recent allegations. The millions of fans eagerly anticipating 2022’s festival of football deserve better,” The National said. Saudi-owned Ash-Sharq Al Awsat newspaper reported that a June 2018 FIFA Congress would hold a re-vote of the Qatari hosting. The Congress didn’t.

Qatar remains vulnerable

Despite so far successfully having defeated efforts to deprive it of its hosting rights, Qatar remains vulnerable when it comes to the integrity of its winning bid. The bid’s integrity and Sheikh Tamim’s emphasis on sports as a pillar of Qatari soft power is at stake in legal proceedings in New York and Zurich involving corruption in FIFA and potential wrongdoing in the awarding of past World Cups. Qatar has suffered reputational damage as a result of the question marks even if the Gulf crisis has allowed it to enhance its image as an underdog being bullied by the big boys on the block.

To Qatar’s credit, it has introduced reforms of its controversial kafala or labour sponsorship system that could become a model for the region. In doing so, it cemented the 2022 World Cup as one of the few mega-events with a real potential of leaving a legacy of change. Qatar started laying the foundations for that change by early on becoming the first and only Gulf state to engage with its critics, international human rights groups and trade unions.

Even so, Qatar initially suffered reputational damage on the labour front because it was relatively slow in embracing and implementing the reforms. Qatar’s handling of the Gulf crisis suggests that it has learnt from the failure of its initial response to criticism of its winning 2022 bid when it acted like an ostrich that puts its head in the sand, hoping that the storm will pass only to find that by the time it rears its head the wound has festered, and it has lost strategic advantage.

The integrity issue remains Qatar’s weak point. For activist critics of the awarding of hosting rights to Qatar, there are two questions. One is, who do they want to get in bed with? Qatar’s detractors, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia hardly have stellar human and labour rights records. If anything, their records are worse than that of Qatar, which admittedly does not glow.

The second question critics have to ask themselves is how best to leverage the World Cup, irrespective of whether the Qatari bid was compromised or not. On the assumption that it may have been compromised, the question is less how to exact retribution for a wrongdoing that was common practice in global football governance. Leveraging should focus on how to achieve a fundamental reform of global sports governance that has yet to emerge eight years into a crisis that was in part sparked by the Qatar World Cup. This goes to the heart of the fact that untouched in efforts to address the governance crisis is the corrupting, ungoverned, and incestuous relationship between sports and politics.

Siamese twins: Sports and politics

The future of the Qatar World Cup and the Gulf crisis speaks to the pervasiveness of politics in sports. The World Cup is political by definition. Retaining Qatar’s hosting rights or depriving the Gulf state of the right to host the tournament is ultimately a choice with political consequences. As long as the crisis continues, retaining rights is a testimony to Qatar’s resilience, deprival would be a victory for its detractors.

As a result, the real yardstick in the debate about the Qatari World Cup should be how the sport and the integrity of the sport benefit most. And even then, politics is never far from what the outcome of that debate is. Obviously, instinctively, the optics of no retribution raises the question of how that benefits integrity. The answer is that the potential legacy of social and economic change that is already evident with the Qatar World Cup is more important than the feel-good effect of having done the right thing with retribution or the notion of setting an example. Add to that the fact that in current circumstances, a withdrawal of hosting rights would likely be interpreted as a victory of one side over the other, further divide the Arab and Muslim world, and enhance a sense among many Muslims of being on the defensive and under attack.

The silver lining in the Gulf crisis may be the fact that it has showed up the fiction of a separation of sports and politics. FIFA, the AFC, and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), seeking to police the ban on a mixing of sports and politics, have discovered that it amounts to banging their heads against a wall. Despite their attempts to halt politics from subverting Asian tournaments, domestic and regional politics seeped into the game via different avenues.

As a result, FIFA and its regional confederations have been tying themselves up in knots. In a bizarre and contradictory sequence of events at the outset of the Gulf crisis, FIFA president Infantino rejected involving the group in the dispute by saying that “the essential role of FIFA, as I understand it, is to deal with football and not to interfere in geopolitics." Yet, on the same day that he made his statement, Mr. Infantino waded into the crisis by removing a Qatari referee from a 2018 World Cup qualifier at the request of the UAE. FIFA, beyond declaring that the decision was taken “in view of the current geopolitical situation,” appeared to be saying by implication that a Qatari by definition of his nationality could not be an honest arbiter of a soccer match involving one of his country’s detractors. In FIFA’s decision, politics trumped professionalism, no pun intended.

Similarly, the AFC was less principled in its stand towards matches pitting Saudi Arabia and Iran against one another. Iranian club Traktor Sazi was forced in February to play its home match against Al Ahli of Jeddah in Oman. It wasn’t clear why the AFC did not uphold the principle it imposed on Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the case of Iran. “Saudi teams have been able to select host stadiums and cities, and Saudi teams will host two Iranian football representatives in the UAE and Kuwait. In return, Iranian football representatives should be able to use their own rights to choose neutral venues,” said Mohammad Reza Saket, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Football Federation in a letter to the AFC.

Soccer governance bodies have long struggled to maintain the fiction of a separation in a trade-off that gave regulators greater autonomy and created the breeding ground for widespread corruption while allowing governments and politicians to manipulate the sport to their advantage as long as they were not too blatant about it. The limits of that deal are currently being defined in the Middle East, a region wracked by conflict where virtually everything is politicised. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

With the 2018 World Cup in Russia behind it, the soccer world’s focus shifts to the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Politics and the Gulf’s internecine political and legal battles have already shaped debate about FIFA’s controversial awarding of World Cup hosting rights to Qatar.

With the 2018 World Cup in Russia behind it, the soccer world’s focus shifts to the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Politics and the Gulf’s internecine political and legal battles have already shaped debate about FIFA’s controversial awarding of World Cup hosting rights to Qatar. The battles highlight not only the sport’s dominance in the Middle East by autocratic leaders but also the incestuous relationship between politics and sports that is at the root of multiple scandals that have rocked the sports world for much of this decade and compromised good governance in international sports. Three men symbolise the importance of soccer to Gulf autocrats who see the sport as a way to project their countries in a positive light on the international stage, harness its popular appeal in their cultural and public diplomacy campaigns, and leverage it as a pillar of their efforts to garner soft power: Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his nemeses, United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Saudi sports czar, Turki al-Sheikh, one of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s closest associates. To be sure, the tension between Qatar and its Gulf detractors was spilling onto the soccer pitch long before the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt took their opposition to Qatari policies to a new level with the imposition in June 2017 of a diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar. Since then, debate about the Qatari World Cup has been further politicised with the Gulf crisis driving efforts to deprive Qatar of economic and soft power benefits it derives from its hosting of the tournament, if not of the right to host the mega-sports event. The UAE-Saudi efforts took on added significance as Qatar and its detractors settled in for the long haul. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt will likely face difficult choices if the Gulf crisis persists when the World Cup, the first such mega-tournament to be held in the Middle East, kicks off in Doha in late 2022. Difficult choices The choice would involve potential political risk. It would be between maintaining the boycott that has cut off all air, sea and land links between Qatar and its detractors at the expense of fans in a soccer-crazy part of the world in which little evokes the deep-seated emotions associated with religion and football or effectively breaching the embargo to evade political backlash and ensure that supporters have access to a sports milestone in the region’s history. The starkness of the boycotting states’ dilemma would be magnified if any one of them were to qualify for the Qatar World Cup and would be enhanced if they were to play the host country or, for example, Iran. The issue of ability to attend is magnified by expectations that the demography of fans attending the World Cup in Qatar may very well be different from that at past tournaments. Qatar is likely to attract a far greater number of fans from the Middle East as well as Africa and Asia. The Asian Football Confederation’s Competition Committee has already urged governments to exempt football teams from travel bans and would almost certainly do the same for fans. As a result, the UAE-Saudi effort to undermine the Qatar World Cup is about more than seeking to deliver a body blow to Qatar. It is also about avoiding being further tied up into knots in an anti-Qatari campaign that has so far failed to break the Gulf state’s resolve, force it to concede, and garner international support. The campaign is multi-pronged and doesn’t shy away from violating laws as is evident in Saudi bootlegging to deprive beIN, the sports franchise of Qatar’s state-owned Al Jazeera television network, of the fruits of acquired rights to broadcast World Cup tournaments and European competitions at the risk of being penalized and/or taken to court by the likes of FIFA and the English Premier League. Saudi media reports that the government has launched an anti-piracy campaign, confiscating more than 4,000 illegal receivers that hacked beIN failed to put an end to the bootlegging. Signalling the political importance that men like the crown princes and Sheikh Tamim attribute to sports, a former top UAE security official, Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan, suggested that the only way to resolve the Gulf crisis would be for Qatar to surrender its World Cup hosting rights. "If the World Cup leaves Qatar, Qatar's crisis will be over ... because the crisis is created to get away from it," Khalfan said. Khalfan spoke at a time that leaked documents from the email account of Yousef Al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador in Washington and a close associate of the country’s crown prince, revealed a UAE plan to undermine Qatar’s currency by manipulating the value of bonds and derivatives. If successfully executed, the plan would have allowed Qatar’s distractors to argue that the Gulf state’s financial problems called into question its ability to organize the World Cup. Serving national interests Al-Sheikh, the chairman of the kingdom’s General Sport Authority, makes no bones about harnessing sports to serve the kingdom’s interests. With a career in security rather than sports, he was unequivocal in his assertion on the eve of Saudi Arabia’s debut in the 2018 World Cup in Russia that he made decisions based on what he deemed “Saudi Arabia’s best interest,” reaffirming the inextricable relationship between sports and politics. Barely 24 hours before the World Cup’s opening match, Saudi Arabia made good on Al-Sheikh’s assertion that the kingdom’s international sports policy would be driven by former US President George W. Bush’s post 9/11 principle of “you are either with us or against us.” With Morocco’s bid for the 2026 World Cup in mind, Mr. Al-Sheikh had warned that "to be in the grey area is no longer acceptable to us. There are those who were mistaken in their direction … If you want support, it'll be in Riyadh. What you're doing is a waste of time…," Al-Sheikh said. Al-Sheikh was referring to Morocco’s refusal to join the anti-Qatari campaign. Adopting a Saudi Arabia First approach, Mr. Al-Sheikh noted that the United States “is our biggest and strongest ally.” He recalled that when the World Cup was played in 1994 in nine American cities, the US “was one of our favourites. The fans were numerous, and the Saudi team achieved good results.” Al-Sheikh was manoeuvring at the same time to ensure that the kingdom has greater say in international soccer governance, including issues such as the fate of the Qatari World Cup and a push to extend international isolation of Iran to the realm of sports. To do so, Saudi Arabia backed a proposal to speed up the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams from 32, which is scheduled to kick off in 2026, by making it already applicable to the 2022 World Cup. Saudi Arabia hopes that the expansion would significantly complicate Qatari preparations for the event. Implementing the expansion in 2022 would strengthen UAE and Saudi efforts to petition FIFA to force Qatar to agree to co-hosting of the World Cup by other Gulf states, a proposal that was incorporated in the UAE plan to undermine Qatar’s currency. In an indication of things to come, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in early 2018 thwarted a UAE-Saudi attempt to get Asian tournament matches that were scheduled to be hosted by Qatar moved to a neutral venue. The AFC warned the two countries that they would be penalized if they failed to play in Doha or host Qatari teams. Al-Sheikh’s moves were part of a two-pronged Saudi-UAE effort. Global tech investor Softbank, which counts Saudi Arabia and the UAE among its largest investors, is believed to be behind a $25 billion proposal embraced by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to revamp the FIFA Club World Cup and launch of a Global Nations League tournament. If approved, the proposal would give Saudi Arabia a significant voice in global soccer governance. Complimenting the Saudi FIFA bid is an effort to expand the kingdom’s influence in the 47-nation AFC, the largest of the world soccer body’s constituent regional elements. To do so, Saudi Arabia unsuccessfully tried to create a new regional bloc, the South West Asian Football Federation (SWAFF), a potential violation of FIFA and AFC rules. The federation would have been made up of members of both the AFC and the Amman-based West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) that groups all Middle Eastern nations except for Israel and is headed by Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, a prominent advocate of soccer governance reform. The initiative fell apart when the Asian members of SWAFF walked out in October 2018 in the wake of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The killing could also jeopardize Saudi efforts to gain control of the AFC with the Al-Sheikh-backed candidacy of Saudi Football Federation chief Adel Ezzat, who resigned in August 2018 to run for the office. Benefits outstrip reputational risk Al-Sheikh and his boss, Prince Mohammed, share with the crown prince’s UAE counterpart and namesake, a belief that the public diplomacy and soft power fruits of harnessing sports outstrip reputational risks. Simon Pearce, Abu Dhabi’s director of strategic communications and a director of Manchester City, the British club bought by UAE Crown Prince Mohammed’s brother but controlled by the de facto Emirati ruler’s men, said as much in leaked emails to Al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador in Washington. The emails discussed the UAE’s registration of a new soccer club, New York City Football Club, as the United States’ Major League Soccer newest franchise. Mr. Pearce argued that Abu Dhabi’s interests in the US political environment are best served by associating New York City FC with City Football Group, the Abu Dhabi government’s soccer investment vehicle, rather than the government itself to evade criticism stemming from the Emirates’ criminalization of homosexuality, its less than stellar record on women’s rights and its refusal to formally recognize Israel despite maintaining close security and commercial relations with the Jewish state. The UAE’s sports-related investments, guided by the crown prince, much like the acquisition of important Qatari sports stakes on the behest of Sheikh Tamim also give Gulf states political leverage and create additional commercial opportunity. The investments constitute the flip side of large amounts of Gulf money being channelled to influential think tanks, particularly in Washington. In a series of notes in 2012, Mr. Pearce advised Prince Mohammed, a man obsessed with perceived threats posed by any form of political Islam and a driving force in the campaign against Qatar, to tempt than British prime minister David Cameron to counter what he described as Islamist infiltration of the BBC’s Arabic service in exchange for lucrative arms and oil deals. To illustrate the UAE and Qatar’s sway in European soccer, Nicholas McGeehan, an independent researcher and former Human Rights Watch executive focussed on the region, looked at recent bookies odds for the Champions League. Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City was the favourite followed by Qatar’s Paris Saint-Germain. Third up was Bayern Munich, whose shirts are sponsored by Qatar, fourth was Barcelona, which recently ended a seven-year sponsorship deal with Qatar, and fifth Real Madrid that sold the naming rights to its new stadium to Abu Dhabi. Saudi and UAE public relations efforts to generate public pressure for a deprival of Qatari hosting rights were at times mired in controversy. The launch in May of the Foundation for Sports Integrity by Jamie Fuller, a prominent Australian campaigner for a clean-up of global soccer governance, backfired amid allegations of Saudi and UAE financial backing and Fuller’s refusal to disclose his source of funding. Saudi and UAE media together with UK tabloid The Sun heralded the launch in a poche London hotel that involved a reiteration of assertions of Qatari wrongdoing in its successful World Cup bid. Media like Abu Dhabi’s The National and Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabiya projected the launch as pressure on FIFA to deprive Qatar of its hosting rights. “It is no secret that football’s governing body is rotten to the core. (FIFA) will rightly come under renewed pressure to strip Qatar of the competition and carry out an internal investigation in the wake of the most recent allegations. The millions of fans eagerly anticipating 2022’s festival of football deserve better,” The National said. Saudi-owned Ash-Sharq Al Awsat newspaper reported that a June 2018 FIFA Congress would hold a re-vote of the Qatari hosting. The Congress didn’t. Qatar remains vulnerable Despite so far successfully having defeated efforts to deprive it of its hosting rights, Qatar remains vulnerable when it comes to the integrity of its winning bid. The bid’s integrity and Sheikh Tamim’s emphasis on sports as a pillar of Qatari soft power is at stake in legal proceedings in New York and Zurich involving corruption in FIFA and potential wrongdoing in the awarding of past World Cups. Qatar has suffered reputational damage as a result of the question marks even if the Gulf crisis has allowed it to enhance its image as an underdog being bullied by the big boys on the block. To Qatar’s credit, it has introduced reforms of its controversial kafala or labour sponsorship system that could become a model for the region. In doing so, it cemented the 2022 World Cup as one of the few mega-events with a real potential of leaving a legacy of change. Qatar started laying the foundations for that change by early on becoming the first and only Gulf state to engage with its critics, international human rights groups and trade unions. Even so, Qatar initially suffered reputational damage on the labour front because it was relatively slow in embracing and implementing the reforms. Qatar’s handling of the Gulf crisis suggests that it has learnt from the failure of its initial response to criticism of its winning 2022 bid when it acted like an ostrich that puts its head in the sand, hoping that the storm will pass only to find that by the time it rears its head the wound has festered, and it has lost strategic advantage. The integrity issue remains Qatar’s weak point. For activist critics of the awarding of hosting rights to Qatar, there are two questions. One is, who do they want to get in bed with? Qatar’s detractors, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia hardly have stellar human and labour rights records. If anything, their records are worse than that of Qatar, which admittedly does not glow. The second question critics have to ask themselves is how best to leverage the World Cup, irrespective of whether the Qatari bid was compromised or not. On the assumption that it may have been compromised, the question is less how to exact retribution for a wrongdoing that was common practice in global football governance. Leveraging should focus on how to achieve a fundamental reform of global sports governance that has yet to emerge eight years into a crisis that was in part sparked by the Qatar World Cup. This goes to the heart of the fact that untouched in efforts to address the governance crisis is the corrupting, ungoverned, and incestuous relationship between sports and politics. Siamese twins: Sports and politics The future of the Qatar World Cup and the Gulf crisis speaks to the pervasiveness of politics in sports. The World Cup is political by definition. Retaining Qatar’s hosting rights or depriving the Gulf state of the right to host the tournament is ultimately a choice with political consequences. As long as the crisis continues, retaining rights is a testimony to Qatar’s resilience, deprival would be a victory for its detractors. As a result, the real yardstick in the debate about the Qatari World Cup should be how the sport and the integrity of the sport benefit most. And even then, politics is never far from what the outcome of that debate is. Obviously, instinctively, the optics of no retribution raises the question of how that benefits integrity. The answer is that the potential legacy of social and economic change that is already evident with the Qatar World Cup is more important than the feel-good effect of having done the right thing with retribution or the notion of setting an example. Add to that the fact that in current circumstances, a withdrawal of hosting rights would likely be interpreted as a victory of one side over the other, further divide the Arab and Muslim world, and enhance a sense among many Muslims of being on the defensive and under attack. The silver lining in the Gulf crisis may be the fact that it has showed up the fiction of a separation of sports and politics. FIFA, the AFC, and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), seeking to police the ban on a mixing of sports and politics, have discovered that it amounts to banging their heads against a wall. Despite their attempts to halt politics from subverting Asian tournaments, domestic and regional politics seeped into the game via different avenues. As a result, FIFA and its regional confederations have been tying themselves up in knots. In a bizarre and contradictory sequence of events at the outset of the Gulf crisis, FIFA president Infantino rejected involving the group in the dispute by saying that “the essential role of FIFA, as I understand it, is to deal with football and not to interfere in geopolitics." Yet, on the same day that he made his statement, Mr. Infantino waded into the crisis by removing a Qatari referee from a 2018 World Cup qualifier at the request of the UAE. FIFA, beyond declaring that the decision was taken “in view of the current geopolitical situation,” appeared to be saying by implication that a Qatari by definition of his nationality could not be an honest arbiter of a soccer match involving one of his country’s detractors. In FIFA’s decision, politics trumped professionalism, no pun intended. Similarly, the AFC was less principled in its stand towards matches pitting Saudi Arabia and Iran against one another. Iranian club Traktor Sazi was forced in February to play its home match against Al Ahli of Jeddah in Oman. It wasn’t clear why the AFC did not uphold the principle it imposed on Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the case of Iran. “Saudi teams have been able to select host stadiums and cities, and Saudi teams will host two Iranian football representatives in the UAE and Kuwait. In return, Iranian football representatives should be able to use their own rights to choose neutral venues,” said Mohammad Reza Saket, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Football Federation in a letter to the AFC. Soccer governance bodies have long struggled to maintain the fiction of a separation in a trade-off that gave regulators greater autonomy and created the breeding ground for widespread corruption while allowing governments and politicians to manipulate the sport to their advantage as long as they were not too blatant about it. The limits of that deal are currently being defined in the Middle East, a region wracked by conflict where virtually everything is politicised. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Gulf rivalries spill onto the soccer pitch

The head of soccer's world governing body said here Thursday that FIFA is considering a plan to increase the number of teams taking part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from 32 to 48.&nbsp;

While the decision to shift to a 48-team format was approved last year by FIFA, the change was not supposed to take effect until 2026.

But FIFA president Gianni Infantino has suggested advancing the implementation to 2022.

"We gathered the opinions as well of our members, the federations," he said Thursday during a press conference in Doha, the Qatari capital.

"So far, of course, the majority are in favor because 16 more teams participating not only means that 16 more countries will have World Cup fever, but 50 or 60 countries will be able to dream of qualifying for the World Cup," Infantino said.

"Whether it is feasible or not is a different question," he acknowledged.

FIFA will make a final decision in March, Infantino said, adding that some matches might have to be in other countries if Qatar could not accommodate the expanded schedule.

"Of course, I'm not naive enough to not know and read the news, and what's going on, but we are in football not in politics and in football sometimes dreams come true," the FIFA president, alluding to the current tensions between Qatar and neighbors such as Saudi Arabia.

The head of soccer's world governing body said here Thursday that FIFA is considering a plan to increase the number of teams taking part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from 32 to 48.

The head of soccer's world governing body said here Thursday that FIFA is considering a plan to increase the number of teams taking part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from 32 to 48. While the decision to shift to a 48-team format was approved last year by FIFA, the change was not supposed to take effect until 2026. But FIFA president Gianni Infantino has suggested advancing the implementation to 2022. "We gathered the opinions as well of our members, the federations," he said Thursday during a press conference in Doha, the Qatari capital. "So far, of course, the majority are in favor because 16 more teams participating not only means that 16 more countries will have World Cup fever, but 50 or 60 countries will be able to dream of qualifying for the World Cup," Infantino said. "Whether it is feasible or not is a different question," he acknowledged. FIFA will make a final decision in March, Infantino said, adding that some matches might have to be in other countries if Qatar could not accommodate the expanded schedule. "Of course, I'm not naive enough to not know and read the news, and what's going on, but we are in football not in politics and in football sometimes dreams come true," the FIFA president, alluding to the current tensions between Qatar and neighbors such as Saudi Arabia.

FIFA: Most countries back expanding 2022 World Cup to 48 teams

A story claiming that six Arab nations had written to FIFA demanding that Qatar be stripped of the World Cup in 2022 was published on what appeared to be a fake version of a Swiss news website, the site&#39;s co-founder said on Sunday.

The report, carried on a website resembling The Local, included quotes purporting to be from FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Reuters published stories based on the report, which were subsequently withdrawn.

The fake story on The Local&nbsp;said that the six countries, which last month cut ties with Qatar, had collectively written to world soccer&#39;s governing body asking it to remove Qatar as hosts under Article 85 of the FIFA Code, which allows for such action in the case of emergency.

<h3><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/uae-arranged-for-hacking-of-qatar-govt-sites-causing-diplomatic-row-washington-post-17984" target="_blank">Related Read:&nbsp;UAE arranged for hacking of Qatar gov&#39;t sites, causing diplomatic row: Washington Post</a></h3>

&nbsp;

&quot;The Local&#39;s staff neither wrote, published nor removed the article in question and The Local can therefore not vouch for any of the claims made,&quot; co-founder James Savage said in a statement on Sunday.

&quot;Our investigation so far indicates the article appeared on a fake site designed to look like The Local, and never appeared on The Local&#39;s own site.&quot;

The Local publishes in English and operates nine news sites across Europe.

Reuters published stories based on the report, which were subsequently withdrawn

A story claiming that six Arab nations had written to FIFA demanding that Qatar be stripped of the World Cup in 2022 was published on what appeared to be a fake version of a Swiss news website, the site's co-founder said on Sunday. The report, carried on a website resembling The Local, included quotes purporting to be from FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Reuters published stories based on the report, which were subsequently withdrawn. The fake story on The Local said that the six countries, which last month cut ties with Qatar, had collectively written to world soccer's governing body asking it to remove Qatar as hosts under Article 85 of the FIFA Code, which allows for such action in the case of emergency. Related Read: UAE arranged for hacking of Qatar gov't sites, causing diplomatic row: Washington Post "The Local's staff neither wrote, published nor removed the article in question and The Local can therefore not vouch for any of the claims made," co-founder James Savage said in a statement on Sunday. "Our investigation so far indicates the article appeared on a fake site designed to look like The Local, and never appeared on The Local's own site." The Local publishes in English and operates nine news sites across Europe.

Website says report of plot to strip Qatar of World Cup was 'fake'

Alcohol will be banned from streets and public places and if Qatari officials get their way even stadiums during the 2022 World Cup, the head of the country&#39;s tournament organising committee said on Tuesday.

The comments by Hassan Al-Thawadi will further alarm football traditionalists already unhappy that the tournament will be moved to the winter because of fierce summer temperatures in Qatar.

A ban on alcohol inside stadium, there has long been speculation about what the conservative Muslim country would do on the tricky issue of alcohol for the World Cup, could bring organisers into conflict with FIFA and powerful sponsors.

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<h5>In the run-up to the tournament in Brazil in 2014, it was widely reported that FIFA demanded alcohol be served at stadiums, which was against Brazilian law at the time</h5>
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&quot;There will be no alcohol consumption on the streets, squares and public places and that is final,&quot; Al-Thawadi, secretary general of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, said in an interview printed on the website of Arabic language newspaper Al-Sharq.

&quot;We are against the provision of alcohol in stadiums and their surroundings.&quot;

There will not be a total alcohol ban, but drinking will be permitted only in &quot;far-away places&quot;, said Al-Thawadi, without going into details.

Drinking of alcohol is not illegal in Qatar and alcohol is available in hotels, while expats who live in the Gulf emirate can buy drink after applying for a licence.

Public drinking, however, is prohibited and bringing alcohol into the country is also forbidden.

The official said Qatar would resist attempts to change the country&#39;s laws for the tournament, as has happened with previous World Cup hosts.

&quot;I did not get into a discussion with FIFA on this matter and there has been great pressure from FIFA on Russia (2018 hosts) to change its laws,&quot; he said.

&quot;But our position is clear, we will legalise according to Qatari law and commensurate with the customs and traditions.&quot;

This could potentially lead to problems with football&rsquo;s governing body FIFA and major sponsors, including beer giant Budweiser.

In the run-up to the tournament in Brazil in 2014, it was widely reported that FIFA demanded alcohol be served at stadiums, which was against Brazilian law at the time.

The South American hosts finally relented.

As well as the impact on cultural traditions there has been growing concern in Qatar about the link between alcohol and the behaviour of fans, especially following clashes at the Euros in France earlier this year, most notably between English and Russian fans.

Organisers have already stated they feared alcohol helped contribute to some of the violence seen in France.

Al-Thawadi said earlier this year that drunken fans during the 2022 World Cup would be treated &quot;gently&quot;.

It has been estimated by organisers that up to one million fans could descend on Qatar for the 2022 tournament.

Many of these could stay in hotels, specially designed campsites and cruise ships.

(AFP)

The ban could extend to inside stadiums too, the head of the country's tournament organising committee said on Tuesday

Alcohol will be banned from streets and public places and if Qatari officials get their way even stadiums during the 2022 World Cup, the head of the country's tournament organising committee said on Tuesday. The comments by Hassan Al-Thawadi will further alarm football traditionalists already unhappy that the tournament will be moved to the winter because of fierce summer temperatures in Qatar. A ban on alcohol inside stadium, there has long been speculation about what the conservative Muslim country would do on the tricky issue of alcohol for the World Cup, could bring organisers into conflict with FIFA and powerful sponsors. In the run-up to the tournament in Brazil in 2014, it was widely reported that FIFA demanded alcohol be served at stadiums, which was against Brazilian law at the time × "There will be no alcohol consumption on the streets, squares and public places and that is final," Al-Thawadi, secretary general of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, said in an interview printed on the website of Arabic language newspaper Al-Sharq. "We are against the provision of alcohol in stadiums and their surroundings." There will not be a total alcohol ban, but drinking will be permitted only in "far-away places", said Al-Thawadi, without going into details. Drinking of alcohol is not illegal in Qatar and alcohol is available in hotels, while expats who live in the Gulf emirate can buy drink after applying for a licence. Public drinking, however, is prohibited and bringing alcohol into the country is also forbidden. The official said Qatar would resist attempts to change the country's laws for the tournament, as has happened with previous World Cup hosts. "I did not get into a discussion with FIFA on this matter and there has been great pressure from FIFA on Russia (2018 hosts) to change its laws," he said. "But our position is clear, we will legalise according to Qatari law and commensurate with the customs and traditions." This could potentially lead to problems with football’s governing body FIFA and major sponsors, including beer giant Budweiser. In the run-up to the tournament in Brazil in 2014, it was widely reported that FIFA demanded alcohol be served at stadiums, which was against Brazilian law at the time. The South American hosts finally relented. As well as the impact on cultural traditions there has been growing concern in Qatar about the link between alcohol and the behaviour of fans, especially following clashes at the Euros in France earlier this year, most notably between English and Russian fans. Organisers have already stated they feared alcohol helped contribute to some of the violence seen in France. Al-Thawadi said earlier this year that drunken fans during the 2022 World Cup would be treated "gently". It has been estimated by organisers that up to one million fans could descend on Qatar for the 2022 tournament. Many of these could stay in hotels, specially designed campsites and cruise ships. (AFP)

No alcohol on streets, in public places at Football World Cup: Qatar

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