Trump leans on Nigeria, Africa to support bid for 2026 World Cup

US President Donald Trump lobbied publicly on Monday for Nigeria to support the North American bid to host the 2026 World Cup.

In a press conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in the White House Rose Garden, Trump appealed for support from the region for the joint bid submitted to FIFA by the United States, Canada and Mexico for the 2026 tournament, which is in competition with Morocco's hosting candidacy.

"I hope all African countries and countries throughout the world - that we also will be supporting you - and that they will, likewise, support us in our bid, along with Canada and Mexico, for the 2026 World Cup," Trump said.

"We will be watching very closely, and any help that they could give us in that bid, we would appreciate."

Last week, Trump seemed to warn US allies not to oppose the "STRONG bid" by the North American neighbours.

"It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid. Why should we be supporting these countries when they don't support us (including at the United Nations)?" he tweeted.

The 2026 World Cup follows Qatar in 2022 and will be the first with 48 teams.

After the scandals which surrounded the voting for the World Cups in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, it will be the first World Cup to see the host elected by FIFA members at their congress, and no longer by the former executive committee.

The vote is planned for the FIFA congress on June 13 in Moscow, on the eve of the opening match of the World Cup.

DPA

32-team World Cup format intact for Qatar 2022 - Blatter

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Saturday after talks between football chiefs the 2022 World Cup will remain a 32 team competition with no change to the share between the regional confederations.

Europe and South America had feared an attempt to cut their places, but Blatter said: "there is no change."

The decision taken by FIFA's executive committee means that Europe will still have 13 places at the Qatar tournament and Africa five.

Asia and South America each get four places and a chance at a playoff. North and Central America get three places and a playoff chance while the Oceania winner enters a playoff.

Qatar will qualify automatically as the hosts.

UEFA chief Michel Platini had said ahead of the meeting that remaining at 13 places was a "red line" for the European confederation.

Prince Ali bin al Hussein, who challenged Blatter for the FIFA presidency, had proposed increasing the number of teams.

But Blatter said on Friday that the World Cup should "not be touched."

Floating Hotels for Qatar 2022 World Cup

Qatar plans to accommodate some 12,000 football fans on cruise ships during the World Cup in 2022, a spokesman for the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) said on Monday.

The proposal for "floating hotels" is a revival of an idea which was initially rejected two years ago.

However, Qatar is now seeking to strengthen its presence in the cruise ship market and the idea to house fans during the tournament has been re-floated.

The QTA announced the proposals at a trade conference in the US over the weekend.

In a statement on the official Qatar News Agency, the QTA said: "Over the past few years, QTA established a number of strong relationships with international cruise operators as well as with other specialists involved in the industry.

"This has proved to be of great importance especially that Qatar will be extensively benefiting from cruise ships over the 2022 World Cup, as a means of providing additional accommodation supply for fans and visitors over the period.

"QTA will be contracting a minimum of 6,000 rooms on cruise ships for 2022 tournament."

A spokesman for the authority confirmed on Monday that this equated to space for 12,000 fans.

It is not yet clear where the cruise ships will be docked but as part of Qatar's huge $200-billion (190-billion euros) capital spending project, ahead of football's most prestigious tournament, the country is building a new port south of the capital, Doha.

FIFA guidelines say Qatar must have 60,000 rooms available for fans by 2022.

Ambitious Qatar though has pledged to make 100,000 rooms available.

This however may lead to thousands of hotel rooms going empty once the tournament, being played in November and December 2022, finishes.

Housing football fans offshore may ease any problems of hotel room over-capacity and it could also help with the thorny issue of alcohol.

AFP

Qatar residents celebrate world cup hosting right

Doha erupted in cheers on Thursday when the news spread that FIFA has picked the country as the host of the 2022 World Cup ahead of the United Sates, Australia, South Korea and Japan. The announcement of the vote by Fifa President Sepp Blatter in Zurich was greeted with delight from patriotic and loving supporters of the Qatar bid.

The news was received with great joy as the Qatar 2022 Bid committee staged a fan zone at the Aspire Park, saw residents of the city honking their car horns in wild celebration of the victory.

Crowds watching the live broadcast on a giant television screen at the Aspire Park started arriving from 2pm as families came with their canopy, mats and chair to witness the historic event.

Children’s faces were painted with the Qatar maroon colour and the national flag, T-shirt, trumpet and scarves were freely given to thousands of fans.

As the evening approached the crowd became thicker, and the Vuvuzela took the air as young Qatari’s blew the trumpet with chants of “Qatar, Qatar, Qatar.”
Aardina Richards, a Dutch national said, “I have been in Doha for three months and I am happy for the Qatar victory but sad for the Netherlands & Belgium bid, though back home people weren’t expecting victory because there are lots of issues that needs to be solved than building stadiums and staging a World Cup.”

Shyju V an Indian resident expressed his joy, when he said, “Qatar’s World Cup bid put on a characteristically polished presentation, its successfully assuaged concerns about its heat, telling everyone that Qatar play a significant role in the heart of the Middle East.

With FIFA giving Qatar the hosting right it will definitely be a unifying factor in the region and a plus for global peace.”

By hosting the world cup Qatar will be fulfilling the dreams of every Arab, said Haithem Rashid, a Tunisian resident.

Hosting the biggest soccer fiesta will boosts the economic fortunes of the country and the inhabitants as whole, said Yemi a Nigerian resident.

Sharif Marri, a Qatari resident, said, “I want to thank Fifa President Sepp Blatter for creating the environment that won Qatar this high ranking and historical feat. We all know Qatar in terms of staging world class events and its football followership is well known to all as witnessed in the Brazil versus Argentina match. I think we are on track, and the game has just begun.”

Qatar will be the first country to host the world cup in the Middle East, with the 2018 edition going to Russia ahead of the joint Spain & Portugal bid.