Qatar undecided on World Cup football bidPublished
: Wednesday, 31 October, 2007, 02:44 AM Doha Time
Al-Mohannadi...no decision yet
By N.D. Prashant
QATAR is yet to decide on its rumoured bid for the 2018 football World Cup, despite the FIFA executive committee on Monday abandoning its policy of rotating the event between continents.
As soon as the FIFA announced its decision that future World Cups would have a wider bidding process, several countries, including Australia, Japan Great Britian, USA, China, Mexico, Russia and Benelux (The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) have expressed their desire to bid for the quadrennial sporting gala.
However, Qatar, which is hosting the Asian Cup football championship and the Asian Indoor Games in 2011 and is a serious contender for the 2016 Olympics, already has its plate full, a fact emphasised by Qatar Football Association (QFA) general secretary Saud Abdulaziz al-Mohannadi.
"I am aware of FIFA's new decision but we are yet to officially decide on our bidding plans," al-Mohannadi told the Gulf Times yesterday.
"As of now, our sole concentration is on winning the Olympics and maybe then we can even think of this (bidding for the football World Cup)," added al-Mohannadi, immediately after attending a QFA board meeting.
Qatar already has world class infrastructure put up for last year's Asian Games and there are several new projects on the way, most notably an underground football stadium which will be ready before the Asian Cup.
Only one World Cup has been held in Asia, when Japan and South Korea co-hosted it in 2002.
