Japan FA Boss Offers To Host 2022 World Cup If Qatar Loses Rights

Japan "is ready to hold the 2022 World Cup" if FIFA strips Qatar of hosting rights over corruption allegations, according to the AFP. Japan FA President Kuniya Daini said that the country, which will host the 2020 Olympics, "would step in if required." Daini: “If FIFA look for an alternative country, we already have the stadiums that would meet the criteria to host it.” The chance of Qatar losing hosting rights "appears remote" despite an investigation by FIFA’s ethics committee, headed by former U.S. district attorney Michael Garcia, "into the much-criticised bidding process." Japan, one of the countries that lost out to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, "has experience of organising the tournament after co-hosting the 2002 edition with Asian neighbours South Korea." Daini said that Japan "also hoped to bring back the Club World Cup," which it has hosted six times before, and hold the 2023 Women’s World Cup (AFP, 3/31).