The Kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Qatar are designated to stage qualification-based short tournaments that will determine the nations that will secure automatic placements for the forthcoming global football competition.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is proceeding with the fourth phase of their global football competition qualifiers during the scheduled international pause in October. This phase will involve six participating teams, which will be equally divided into two groups. These teams will participate in two distinct round-robin tournaments, and the victor of each tournament will secure an automatic entry to the global football competition.
Everything seems conventional thus far. However, considering that the teams involved in each group will only face each other once, the governing organization has decided to select a particular nation to serve as the host for these two abbreviated leagues.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar selected as host nations
It was revealed in June of the current year, subsequent to a competitive procedure to select the host for the centralized event, that Saudi Arabia and Qatar had been designated for this responsibility.
That ignited disputes among the other nations that were involved, especially Indonesia, Oman, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates.
Since both Saudi Arabia and Qatar are participating in the qualifying rounds, the primary objection was regarding the advantage that each country would gain from competing on their home ground, in contrast to their adversaries.
The two nations have a solid history of successfully winning proposals to organize events. Qatar was the host country for the global football competition in 2022, and Saudi Arabia is scheduled to host the 2034 version.
Is the choice controversial?
However, this is precisely why it seems logical to designate these two countries as hosts for this specific stage of the qualification process. Both are well-prepared, and Saudi Arabia is still improving its infrastructure, to welcome numerous football teams and their supporters for significant competitions, making the reception of two additional teams relatively straightforward.
On the other hand, the other four nations in combination have only participated in three global football competitions throughout history, implying that their football facilities might not be sufficient.
Some individuals have proposed a neutral location, which might function effectively but would necessitate extra travel for two additional teams, along with associated ecological repercussions.
Has this ever happened before?
However, it should be noted that although it is unusual to centralize a qualification tournament and have one of the participating teams act as the host, this is not without precedent.
A comparable approach has been implemented during the qualifying process for the current season of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Manchester United went to Stockholm in August, where the team led by Marc Skinner played against Hammarby, on their own field, and PSV. They were victorious in both games and eventually advanced to the main tournament after winning the subsequent round.
Nevertheless, this system is a recent addition to the Asian qualifiers for the current cycle, created in response to the growth in the number of participating teams to 48 for the 2026 global football competition.
