The Confederations Cup in 2021 will be moved out of Qatar and held in a yet-to-be-determined Asian country, a senior FIFA official has said.
The tournament, which is typically held in the World Cup host country a year before the actual games, is considered a dress rehearsal of sorts before the main event.
During the competition, the host nation, the World Cup holders, and the six continental champions usually qualify to compete in a two-week tournament.
But while in Doha this week, Jérôme Valcke, FIFA secretary general, said the event could not be held in Qatar due to its searing summer heat.
The weather was also cited as an impetus by a FIFA task force this week, which recommended the actual World Cup be moved to the cooler winter months in 2022.
A final decision on whether the tournament will be pushed back will be made by FIFA’s Executive Committee next month.
Emir defends World Cup
Meanwhile, during a days-long visit to the US, Qatar’s Emir yesterday fielded questions about corruption allegations regarding the nation’s bid for the international football tournament.
According to AFP, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani told an audience of students at Georgetown University in Washington, DC that there was no evidence of bribery:
“Those allegations, I’d just said, there is a FIFA and they had people investigating and everything they investigated with everybody, all officials in Qatar, and they found out that there is nothing about (that).”
“This World Cup is for all the Arabs and that is why we were successful. It is a big challenge.”
He also joked with audience members about the US’s failed bid to host the 2022 games, reportedly sparking some laughter from participants:
“It’s bad to say that the race was between Qatar and America, to hold the World Cup of 2022, and I know that you guys, people here were very upset that how could this small country beat this great country, and I think you should believe … that you can lose sometimes.”
Thoughts?
Surprised about the sudden heat discussions that are arising just now. Seemed somewhat obvious.
Shocking racist decision, how dare they move the confederation cup! We paid a fortune for that too! That’s it we want our gold watches, free trips and jobs to daughters of officials back!
What are you talking about jerk lol
Sorry ones taken we don’t give it back =D
There is a reason why you’ll remain a peasant your entire life.
Sir I would hazard at a guess I a more wealthy than you in both monetary terms and morality. Secondly my status at home amongst my community and society is certainly not one of a peasant. Lastly I would challenge you to a battle of wits but it appears from your random unrelated out of context comment that you are unarmed.
You should be a comedian. Also, if you think changing your tone would make you smarter, you failed, if you had any value, roaches like you would be back home.
Deleted for personal attack.
Lol…seems people miss your sarcasm!
“held in a yet-to-be-determined Asian country” Hmmm. That is interesting. I guess no one is aware that the rest of the Asian countries are also hot in the summer. This whole weather thing is just a big mystery at FIFA it seems. Maybe they should bring some of the Climatologists back from Copenhagen to see if they can figure out the difference between hot and cold.
And then from Wikipedia – The tournament was originally organized by and held in Saudi Arabia and called the King Fahd Cup (Confederations Winners Cup or Intercontinental Championship), contested in 1992 and 1995 by the Saudi national side and some continental champions. In 1997, FIFA took over the organization of the tournament, named it the FIFA Confederations Cup and staged the competition every two years.
So this was originally held in the Middle East….in the summer, but it was not too hot then? Now I am really confused.
everybody testifies qatar’s succes in organization Qatar is known for being very succsesful in hosting big sport events and summer heat isn’t a big deal because everything is conditioned
Hold on, except for the handball (which still had major ticketing issues) I have not been to one event here which I would deem ‘very succesful’.
Notice he didn’t discuss the labor issue. That’s the bigger point of contention in the US, at least.
WC2022 should be cancelled and the Qatari, who through their support of some of the rebel groups were one of the chief instigators of the Syria/Irag crisis, should be made to divert the billions saved to humanitarian aid for the millions who are suffering as a result.
You lost, get over it you pink pig. Oink oink !
Shabina, where are you? Or is this sort of abuse acceptable?
I find it quite funny when people such as yourselves say “You lost get over it!”
When:
A: Qatar officially scored the lowest out of all the bids put forward to the official FIFA technical committee
B: Was the only only one who was officially defined as high risk by the FIFA technical committee
C: Has had to change the dates to the only ones feasible to hold the tournament in Qatar, after being awarded to hold it in summer.
But hey Qatar won the bid purely on merit :-), so I guess I’m gonna have to buy a ladder to get over it!
Deleted for (another) personal attack.
Anyone find a link to his talk at Georgetown?
Georgetown has a summary press release but no video:
http://www.georgetown.edu/news/sheikh-tamim-bin-hamad-al-thani-speaks-2015.html
Should be hosted by Australia IMO.
Said the pig.
Racist much?
This whole World Cup business is getting uglier each year. I really wish politics would seize ruining the beautiful game of football.
No mention of the labor camps? The World Cup is just a game, but the labor camps being used to construct it actually matter.
I understand that the weather issue is a real one, but why don’t they find a solution in Qatar rather than taking it out of Qatar? Why not shift the dates also for this one? This seems quite unfair.
Describe it in single word, ‘Jealousy’.