Saudi Arabia and Qatar Selected As Host Nations in New World Cup Controversy
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been selected as host nations in a new World Cup controversy.
Qualification for next summer's tournament will continue to ramp up over the coming week. And both Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been handed favourable scheduling for the upcoming matches.
They have been given home advantage and longer recovery periods between fixtures. It is the fourth stage of AFC qualifying, which sees countries placed into groups of three.
Saudi Arabia are in a group with Iraq and Indonesia, while Qatar will take on Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Although the opponents had requested to host the games themselves, or to play at neutral venues, their requests were denied.
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In Group B, Saudi Arabia will play their first game against Indonesia on October 8, before having six days to recover ahead of their clash with Iraq on October 14.
By contrast, both Iraq and Indonesia will only have three days between matches.
Group A presents a similar scenario, with Qatar playing Oman on October 8, before taking on the United Arab Emirates.
The situation has frustrated the visiting teams, including Oman boss Carlos Queiroz, who has been to the World Cup four times in his managerial career Speaking to The Guardian, he highlighted just how difficult it will be to lead Oman to their first World Cup.
He said: “It would be a miracle in this complicated situation. Are there no stadiums in Japan or Kuwait where we could play? Maybe the people who organised this have a different vision of football.
“I knew the situation when I took the job What can we say? We have to play at the home of one of the teams that is competing.
"They put the Saudis in Saudi and Qatar in Qatar. If they can’t see that something is wrong with this, then who are the players and coaches to make comments?”
The former Manchester United assistant manager also criticised the disproportionate recovery times.
He added: “We play Qatar and we play again three days later, Qatar play six days after, and they already know the result and what they need to do.
“This has never happened before. The people that made the regulations didn’t think about this and did not pay attention.
“When there is a World Cup, there is always a host and that we can understand: they pay for it, build the stadiums and all the rest.
"But to do this in the middle of the competition, it is strange that the people in charge don’t feel uncomfortable with this.”
SPORTbible has approached FIFA and the AFC for comment.
Topics: Saudi Arabia, Football, FIFA, FIFA World Cup
James Taylor