Kuwait welcomes co-hosting some games of mondial 2022

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‘Difficult to implement some of the FIFA conditions’

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: Kuwait Football Association has “welcomed” cohosting some matches of the 2022 mondial, due to be hosted by Qatar. The association deputy chairman, Ahmad Al-Enezi, said in a statement on Thursday that the association would respond positively if the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) or the Qatar Football Association officially make such a request.

However, Al-Enezi affirmed that the co-hosting of some of the matches by GCC countries other than Qatar has remained a proposal by FIFA till now. This will turn a strong possibility if number of the participating teams has risen to 48, instead of 33, he has indicated.

The Kuwaiti association will support the Qatari counterpart to ensure success of the mondial, he pledged, noting that Gulf and Arab states should help Qatar in accomplishing this task. The chairman of the Kuwaiti association, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Yousef Al-Sabah, will meet FIFA Chairman Gianni Infanito to discuss this matter.

The meeting will take place on sidelines of the inaugural match of the Asia Cup tournament, due to be hosted by the UAE between Jan 5 and Feb 1. Earlier, President of Kuwait Football Association (KFA) Sheikh Ahmad Yusuf Al-Sabah said the conditions for hosting or participating in hosting some of the World Cup matches 2022 do not apply to Kuwait, reports Al-Rai daily.

Sheikh Ahmad was reacting to an announcement made by the head of FIFA and the International Federation of Swiss Football Gianni Infantino at the Dubai International Sports Conference that he was looking for Gulf countries to help Qatar host some of the events. He disclosed the World Cup Qatar 2022 will consist of 48 teams. Al-Yusuf told the daily it is difficult to implement some of the main conditions of FIFA in Kuwait.

The most important of these is allowing all nationalities, including the Israelis, to enter the country and issue immediate visas to them as soon as they arrive irrespective whether they are members of the teams or fans. “Even if we involve or define the identity of the teams that will play in Kuwait, we cannot prevent the entry of the masses that support them, whatever their nationality,” he said.

“There are some alcohol manufacturing companies that sponsor the tournament and sell their products inside the stadiums, which is forbidden and punishable by law in Kuwait, how will we solve this problem?” he asked. Al-Yusuf said hosting the World Cup or participating in its hosting is a historic event and all the countries of the world wish to do so, including the Kuwaiti sports enthusiasts, but there are obstacles to us which are not in the hands of any sports institution. He concluded saying: “We wish the Qatari brothers success in hosting the event and we trust their abilities and are ready to support them administratively or from the technical point of view. When they were chosen to host the event, we were very happy.”

For his part, Infantino has praised the hosting of the World Cup finals in Russia. “I was not elected to sit in an office and open stadiums in a beautiful country, but I’m here to develop the game. There are strong teams such as Italy, Cameroon and the United States which did not participate in the last World Cup.”

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