World Cup 2022: No co-hosts

AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam has quashed rumours of a co-hosted 2022 World Cup by declaring that only Qatar shall organise the matches as had been presented in the bid proposal by the Middle East state.

There have been reports in the media about discussions concerning a Gulf World Cup as Qatar as a nation is geographically small. But Bin Hammam has moved to deny such reports.

“In terms of organization, Qatar submitted the bid to organize the World Cup and that’s for just for Qatar to organize all the matches and it’s never actually been discussed within the Fifa Executive Committee or outside the Executive Committee or that some of the matches are to be played outside. So from this point of view, I don’t think any country is going to be a part of the organization,” clarified Hammam.

The AFC chief also spoke about the benefits hosting a World Cup in Qatar would have on other nations in the Gulf region.

“If you ask me what is the impact of organizing the World Cup in this region, I think that is very huge. But the region will also be benefiting from tourists, economically and I think lot of infrastructure needs to be built, a lot of people are going to come to work for constructing this infrastructures," he added.

“I actually see a huge impact including also that the game, i.e., football by itself is going to be promoted and the legacy the World Cup is going to leave in this region."