Fans and teams at the 2021 Arab Cup will have an opportunity to enjoy what the country has to offer ahead of Qatar 2022.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has confirmed the participation of 22 teams in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup, which will be held in Qatar next December.
Infantino expressed his excitement with the considerable number of the teams that will participate in the tournament, as most of the competition will be played in the World Cup stadiums from 1 December, 2021 and will last 18 days.
The FIFA president highlighted that the competition will give the opportunity to more than 450 million Arabs to gather under one flag, expressing his confidence in an event that will get fans excited for the first-ever World Cup to be held in the Middle East in 2022.
Regarding the participation of the Arab international teams, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al Thani, president of the Qatar Football Association, underscored Qataris’ aspirations to host fans and the 22 teams that will participate in the FIFA Arab Cup, and pointed out that these teams will be among the few that will have the opportunity to experience the headway that has been made in preparation for the 2022 World Cup.
He said: "The 2021 Arab Cup competition will be a good opportunity for the Qatari national team to reinforce their preparation for better performance before Qatar 2022, through facing the Arab teams, especially those with high technical performance."
The president of the Qatar Football Association added that the guests of the competition will have an opportunity to enjoy an atmosphere similar to what is promised to the fans of the 2022 World Cup, since the tournament will be the ideal opportunity to improve fans' experience, as well as to test the operational layout of the stadiums.
FIFA, the Qatar Football Association, and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy have assumed the organizational duties for the of the Arab Cup, whose schedule follows a similar one to that of Qatar 2022, with the final also being played on the same calendar date, December 18, exactly one year before the historic World Cup final in Doha.