FIFA tell Sky Sports News they will not comment on suggestions Oman and Kuwait are being lined up as co-hosts in 2022
Thursday 7 March 2019 16:22, UK
FIFA are set to discuss the feasibility of increasing the number of teams at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from 32 to 48.
FIFA members have already agreed to expand the World Cup to 48 teams from 2026, but president Gianni Infantino wants to bring the change forward to 2022, and the issue will be raised when FIFA's Council meet in Miami on Friday, March 15.
Qatar will be the first hosts of a World Cup in the Middle East, but the nation of 2.6m people would be unlikely to be able to accommodate a tournament containing 48 teams.
FIFA have told Sky Sports News they will not comment on suggestions Oman and Kuwait are being lined up as co-hosts.
The Associated Press reported that a 'person with knowledge of the situation' says FIFA want to give the two Arab nations hosting duties of the tournament, along with Qatar, if the number of teams qualifying rises from 32 to 48.
Qatar won a vote by FIFA's executive committee in 2010 to host the 2022 competition, but Oman and Kuwait would become unelected hosts.
The need to potentially find co-hosts is complicated by the political situation in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates currently maintaining an economic and travel boycott of Qatar.
The proposed FIFA Nations League and expanded Club World Cup will also be on the agenda at the meeting in Miami.
