Last month I posted that FIFA was considering Kuwait to co-host the World Cup with Qatar, that offer is now off the table. FIFA originally wanted to increase the teams participating in the World Cup to 48, but Qatar didn’t have enough stadiums and facilities to host the extra games. So Kuwait and Oman were both considered to co-host since nobody else in the Gulf is in talking terms with Qatar at the moment. Oman didn’t have the stadiums to host the games and Kuwait wasn’t interested in co-hosting either so FIFA scrapped the plans to expand the World Cup.
As someone who wanted Kuwait to host the World Cup, this is obviously disappointing news.
8 replies on “Kuwait No Longer Needed to Host the 2022 World Cup”
This may be a missed opportunity to host the world cup, but increasing the number of teams to 48 is sheer madness. THAT should not depend on how many stadiums the host country has. What about the quality of teams and the competition in general?
Media around Kuwait already commented that the country has its limitations, whereas Qatar media mentioned that due to logistical complexities, it wasnt possible to prepare to host 48 teams before the deadline.
I think Kuwait could have made it happen if they wanted to, even agreeing to all the “controversial” criteria. But, there are always going to be “things in the way”.
Good. This way it doesn’t destroy the culture of the country!
How is a football match going to destroy the culture of the country?
It’s not the football match; it’s the the criteria for allowing israelis to enter and lifting alcohol ban will.
Although I don’t agree with the TOTAL alcohol ban, and I do understand that many people circumvent that, even without consequence, but having an organisation like Fifa place demands to influence Kuwaiti politics and undermine its sovereignty is a no-go for me and the vocal majority of Kuwaitis.
And the israeli travel ban is obvious.
Sorry it didn’t happen for u Mark! That topic generated a lot of opinion traffic !!
It could’ve paved the way for something for Kuwait, but on the other hand, can you imagine how much traffic jams there could be? More than usually.
Originally, they wanted Saudi and UAE also to host the games, but that would require the blockade to be lifted.