FIFA To Hold Arab Cup In Qatar Next Year

The Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, which was completed as one of the arenas for the 2022 World Cup (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - FIFA has confirmed that Qatar will host the Arab Cup tournament in December next year.

The tournament will feature 22 teams from across the Arab world and will be a warm-up tournament ahead of the World Cup in the Gulf nation next year.

Launching Antara, Wednesday, November 25, the world soccer body declared Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan , Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen will take part in this tournament.

"Through football, this tournament will bring together some 450 million people from across the region," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino during a visit to the Lusail Stadium which is one of the eight venues for Qatar's World Cup.

Previously, the Arab Nations Cup was held uncertainly with only nine tournaments taking place from 1963 to 2012.

"This will be an important milestone and the final test for our preparation, just one year before we host the region's first FIFA World Cup," said Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al Thani, president of the Qatar Football Association (QFA).