FIFA Says 2022 Qatar World Cup in Fall

FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Friday announced the dates for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with the tournament to be held for the first time in fall considering the hot climate of the host nation which does not allow the games to be played during the routine time in summer.

Addressing a press conference in Moscow, Infantino said the 2022 tournament will begin on November 21 and continue until December 18, Times reported.

He said football leagues around the world have been informed of the decision given that the new dates clash with the normal domestic schedules for a number of European club sides. “Leagues around the world have been informed already,” he said. “Of course, they will have to adapt their dates so that they can fit in and dovetail with the World Cup.”

Qatar 2022 will not be the first edition with 48 teams as it will happen in 2026. “First, we will discuss with the Qataris and then with the FIFA Council and stakeholders and decide calmly what the decision is,” Infantino said. “For the moment, we have a World Cup with 32 teams,” he said.

Recently, the World Cup organizers in Qatar said they were open to a 48-team event in principle if desired by FIFA. “I think it’s all in the format. If the format is done right, it could actually be an edition that is exciting,” Nasser al-Khater, assistant secretary-general at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, had told the media in Moscow.

Infantino also lauded the organization of the ongoing World Cup in Russia and the video assistant referee technology used there.

Much-travelled Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic has stressed that Qatar will host a “dream World Cup” in 2022, as reported by DPA.

Milutinovic, who has coached five different national teams at World Cups and eight national teams in all, and is now a member of the technical studies group of football’s world governing body FIFA, is optimistic for the 2022 tournament.  “I think it’s going to be a dream World Cup, and why do I say that? It’s a small country and in one day you can watch two matches,” he said. “This is extraordinary; you don’t have to travel long distances.”