“If the relationship comes back to normal and all problems are resolved, we would be more than happy to help the Qataris,” says UAE sports chief Mohammed Khalfan al-Romaithi.

UAE sports chief Mohammed Khalfan al-Romaithi has suggested that the UAE would be open to co-hosting the 2022 Fifa World Cup, if the rift with Qatar is resolved.

Currently, the World Cup hosts 32 teams, but FIFA president Gianni Infantino has backed a proposal to expand the next World Cup to 48 teams, and has suggested that neighbouring countries could host matches.

But for the UAE to participate, the political rift between Qatar and the UAE, which began in 2017, will need to be resolved.

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“I think the right way is to solve the problem,” UAE sports chief Mohammed Khalfan al-Romaithi said in an interview with Reuters. “Bring back the relationships, be brothers again like we were, and then we can support.”

He also added that the UAE would be ‘more than happy to help the Quataris’, “if the relationship comes back to normal and all problems are resolved’.

“If the problem is solved I think the UAE would welcome the World Cup here, a group or two for example,” the chairman of the UAE General Sports Authority added.

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