Former host Russia frozen out as World Cup begins in Qatar
The last FIFA event to be held in Qatar would be the 2022 World Cup which will be staged jointly by the current World Cup hosts and South Korea. This follows on from the decision from last month to scrap Russia’s participation in the tournament. Russia’s decision will leave the South Asian country in the role of host again with this year’s World Cup being hosted by Japan and the 2020 edition by Australia and New Zealand.
The last FIFA event to be held in Qatar would be the 2022 World Cup which will be staged jointly by the current World Cup hosts and South Korea. This follows on from the decision from last month to scrap Russia’s participation in the tournament. Russia’s decision will leave the South Asian country in the role of host again with this year’s World Cup being hosted by Japan and the 2020 edition by Australia and New Zealand.
After being stripped of any tournament hosting rights, Qatar has spent most of 2015 and 2016 lobbying for its hosting rights to be reinstated. The move has been seen as an attempt to secure an enhanced economic role in Gulf football.
In February, Qatar had said its only option for hosting the World Cup was to agree to host in the last four years of the competition rather than 2019. This came after FIFA initially gave Qatar four years to find a solution, but it subsequently decided to take the country off of the list.
After being stripped of any tournament hosting rights, Qatar has spent most of 2015 and 2016 lobbying for its hosting rights to be reinstated. The move has been seen as an attempt to secure an enhanced economic role in Gulf football.
In February, Qatar had said its only option for hosting the World Cup was to agree to host in the last four years of the competition rather than 2019. This came after FIFA initially gave Qatar four years to find a solution, but it subsequently decided to take the country off of the list.
Russia and Qatar have exchanged tit-for-tat statements in recent months, with Russia asking for the World Cup to be played in Doha as the next five years of the competition are already awarded to South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In turn, Qatar said all decisions concerning the tournament have been made by the
