FIFA postpones decision on Qatar World Cup stadiums

DOHA, Qatar: FIFA has delayed the decision on finalising the number of stadiums to be used during the 2022 Qatar World Cup until next year, tournament officials in the Gulf confirmed on Wednesday.

A final decision was expected before the end of this month, but following a meeting in Doha of the Qatar 2022 Local Organising Committee (LOC), the body overseeing preparations for the controversial tournament decided that the numbers will be fixed in January.

“There was an agreement about deciding the number of stadiums for the World Cup by the end of this year, but because of the importance of this matter, we decided to postpone the decision,” said Nasser al-Khater, the assistant general secretary of Qatar’s 2022 organising committee.

The final decision will be taken by FIFA. It has been widely predicted that only eight stadiums will be used in Qatar, though the inital bid allowed for up to 12.

If eight is agreed, it will be the smallest number of venues used at a World Cup finals since Argentina in 1978, where games were played at just six different stadiums. However, just 16 teams qualified for that tournament 37 years ago.

In Qatar, 32 nations will take part. Work has already begun on six stadiums and Qatari officials say they want all venues completed by 2020.

Colin Smith, FIFA’s director of competition, told local media: “We are happy with the progress Qatar has made with its preparations for the World Cup and especially with the LOC’s dynamic timelines for the delivery of stadiums.”