April 8 – Gianni Infantino has upped the ante once again in his bid to gain global support for his controversial plan to change the landscape of club world football as well as expand the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams.
March 20 – FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s plan to expand the 2022 World Cup to 48 teams and sharing hosting rights with Qatar’s neighbours risks worsening tensions in the region, according to a new survey.
March 11 – Qatar’s 2022 World Cup CEO Nasser Al-Khater has added his voice to speculation that the tournament could be shared with Kuwait and Oman by insisting that no decision has been made on the issue.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 7 -With little more than a week to go until the all-important Miami summit of FIFA’s decision-making Council, Gianni infantino is reportedly working to try and rescue the idea of expanding the 2022 Qatar World Cup to 48 teams.
February 28 – FIFA have competed another stadium inspection visit to Qatar focussing on various stadium facilities, including competition areas, ticketing, marketing, media, broadcasting, IT, hospitality, protocol, security and health and safety.
February 18 – Gianni Infantino is repeating the same rhetoric ahead of next month’s decision-making FIFA Council session in Miami saying he is “optimistic” about expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams but warned that it would “not be easy”.
February 13 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino made a surprise visit to Doha on Tuesday as Qatar marked National Sports Day.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 12 – A political spin doctor who worked for Britain’s Conservative party attempted to scupper Qatar’s bid to stage the 2022 World Cup according to UK reports.
By David Owen
February 6 – FIFA has moved to assert control over the Qatar 2022 World Cup delivery process. The governing body has announced establishment of a joint venture with the Qatar 2022 Local Organising Committee (LOC) that will take responsibility for the planning and delivery of operations and services for the tournament, scheduled for the first time for a northern-hemisphere winter.
February 6 – World Cup hosts Qatar have responded to claims by Amnesty International that time is running out to implement globally acceptable labour reforms by pledging the country is entirely committed to stopping widespread abuse.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 24 – As the Asian Cup moves towards its eagerly awaited conclusion, one of the elephants in the room is the extent to which the United Arab Emirates, as hosts, are putting on a show worthy of being viewed as potential sharers of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
January 3 – Drinking alcohol at the World Cup in 2022 is already a highly sensitive subject and now Qatar are set to introduce a 100% tax on all alcohol sales.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 2 – Brand new year, same old rhetoric from FIFA about an expanded World Cup in 2022.
December 28 – A New York rabbi says he has been asked by Qatar for advice on how to plan for Jewish fans at the 2022 World Cup, the first to be held in a predominantly Muslim country.
By Paul Nicholson in Qatar
December 18 – In exactly four years’ time Qatar will be hosting the final of the 2022 World Cup in the Lusail Stadium in Lusail City. It will be a double celebration for the country, whether they make the final or not, as December 18 is their National Day.