Qatar 2022 | |
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2022 FIFA World Cup bidding logo
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Tournament details | |
Host country | Qatar |
Teams | 32 (from 6 confederations) |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 62 |
The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid was a bid by Qatar to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The bid has come under FBI investigation for bribery and corruption, leading to the resignation of FIFA President Sepp Blatter. With a population of 2 million people, Qatar will be the first Arab state to host the World Cup.Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, son of Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani the then Emir of Qatar, was the chairman of the bid committee. Qatar promoted their hosting of the tournament as representing the Arab World, and has drawn support from across the member states of the Arab League. They also positioned their bid as an opportunity to bridge the gap between the Arab World and the West.
On 17 Nov 2010 Qatar hosted a friendly match between Brazil and Argentina. This was one of 47 international exhibition games held throughout the world on this day.
President of FIFA Sepp Blatter endorsed the idea of having a World Cup in the Arab World, saying in April 2010: "The Arabic world deserves a World Cup. They have 22 countries and have not had any opportunity to organize the tournament". Blatter also praised Qatar's progress: "When I was first in Qatar there were 400,000 people here and now there are 1.6 million. In terms of infrastructure, when you are able to organise the Asian Games (in 2006) with more than 30 events for men and women, then that is not in question". On 2 December 2010, it was announced that Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Working against the Qatar bid was the extreme temperature in the desert country. The World Cup always takes place during the European off-season in June and July. During this period the average daytime high in most of Qatar exceeds 50 °C (120 °F), the average daily low temperatures not dropping below 30 °C (86 °F). In response to this issue, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the 2022 Qatar bid chairman, has stated, "the event has to be organized in June or July. We will have to take the help of technology to counter the harsh weather. We have already set in motion the process. A stadium with controlled temperature is the answer to the problem. We have other plans up our sleeves as well".