FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Wednesday renewed fears that Qatar could host the 2022 World Cup, amid widespread calls for the participation of 48 teams. "As a FIFA president, he would be very happy if matches could be held in some countries, Countries of the region ".
"The chances of raising the number of teams participating in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 are a difficult challenge," he said. Noting that the International Federation will take the decision in March (the date of the next meeting of the FIFA in Miami, USA).
In recent months, the Confederation of South America has offered a proposal to apply this increase from the next World Cup in Qatar, which has been the subject of recent research between the parties concerned and is clearly supported by the Swiss president of the International Federation.
I think that increasing the number of teams in the World Cup to 48 is good for football, which is why we are doing so in the World Cup in 2026, "in an interview with media, including AFP, at the headquarters of the International Federation in the city Swiss Zurich.
"Can we do that starting in 2022? This is a difficult challenge, and we have to make the decision in March, the date of the next meeting of the FIFA in Miami," he said. "As FIFA president, I would be very happy if some matches could be held in some countries in the region."
But the FIFA president's plans, which he wants to implement in 2022, collide with the fact that Qatar is small and unable to accommodate an event of this size, as revealed by confessions by Qatari officials about the plan to host the fans.
Despite Qatar's impressive picture of the world's preparations for the World Cup, the reality on the ground seems to be different, amid doubts that the Doha system could accommodate large numbers of fans between 21 November and 18 December 2022.
Qatar's largest hotel owner, Katara, recently announced the installation of 20,000 hotel rooms on cruise ships in the Gulf to host tens of thousands of visitors.
But worse, the plan also includes the construction of tents in desert areas close to the stadiums to host the World Cup.
This seems to have prompted the participation of other countries in Qatar in hosting the 2022 World Cup, when he said: "We have to see if this is possible and feasible, we are looking at this with our Qatari friends and other friends in the region and we hope it will happen."
Country sources said earlier that the small country hopes to host one and a half million visitors during the month of the World Cup, mostly in the capital, which will cause a heavy burden on the infrastructure of Doha and its environs.
The rain that hit Qatar on Saturday exposed the depletion of the infrastructure of the country and the lack of readiness for such sudden events, knowing that the rain during the World Cup is strongly expected to be held in the fall.
Since the announcement of the victory of the Qatari file in the World Cup eight years ago, there are suspicions of corruption over the way Doha has established the World Cup, amid allegations of bribes of tens of millions of dollars to officials of the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) and continental and local unions.
