KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – During the last soccer elections in Asia, Qatar retained its seat on FIFA’s ruling committee after defeating its regional rivals. Due to this, the Asian Football Confederation executive committee will have no Saudi Arabian or United Arab Emirate member. This committee was elected by 47 member federations earlier on Saturday.
For the next four years, Saoud Al Mohannadi will be AFC vice president and represent Asia. This position has brought Qatar levels closer to FIFA decision making since 2011 after Mohamed bin Hammam was suspended before being banned. Mohamed’s sentence was for funds misappropriation immediately after Qatar won World Cup hosting rights.
Logically, we can assume 2019 is filled with winning streaks for Qatar as the national team earlier won the Asian Cup in Abu Dhabi over Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates both of who have boycotted Qatar both logistically and diplomatically since 2017. Among the effects of the political pressure is asking Qatar nto to share World Cup games with Quwait and Oman in an expanded 48-team tournament.
According to Gianni Infantino, the FIFA President, FIFA, and Qatar are presently considering the addition of 16 teams to the World Cup.
The win has sparked different reactions from different quarters as the FIFA president believes it will help stabilize the region. He also shared his belief that since the election was unopposed, it is a display of Asia’s United Football Family.
Infantino is currently the only running candidate for FIFA Presidency in June and might be re-elected in Paris after the elections.
