FIFA president Infantino confirms that FIFA Club World Cup 2021 will be in UAE in early 2022
This year’s Club World Cup will be held in the United Arab Emirates in early 2022, FIFA has confirmed.
The annual tournament features the champions of the different continents which is Europe, South America, North America, Pacific and Oceania, Asia along with the host nation’s national champions
The games were due to be played in Japan, but they pulled out as hosts last month because of the high number of coronavirus cases in the country.
South Africa, Qatar and the UAE were quickly identified as possible new venues for the event, but South Africa announced a fortnight ago their own Covid-19 problems meant they had to withdraw and Qatar were already scheduled to host the Arab Cup in the first half of December.
This means the UAE has become a hotbed of sporting action amid the Coronavirus pandemic, with the cricket Indian Premier League (IPL) being staged there for 1 and a half of the last two seasons, and the Cricket World Cup is also about to be held there.
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So far, Chelsea have qualified alongside Egypt’s Al Ahly and Australia’ Auckland City, although both enter at an earlier stage than Thomas Tuchel’s side, who enter at the semi-final stage alongside the Copa Libetadores winners (with the final being played next month).
For Chelsea, it will mean more games and more travel, even though several players are already suffering from fatigue according to Thomas Tuchel.
Additionally, there are question marks about how it will fit around the Africa Cup of Nations, which is due to take place in January 2022, and of which Chelsea duo Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech will both be taking part in.
The exact dates of the rearranged annual Club World Cup which will be staged next year are still to be announced barring any changes.
