FIFA have awarded Qatar the right to host the 2019 and 2020 Club World Cups.

Qatar will host the 2019 and 2020 FIFA Club World Cups

The FIFA Council met in Paris on Monday and approved the plan to stage the next two editions of the tournament in the Gulf state.

Speaking to reporters in Paris, the chairman of Qatar 2022’s organising committee Hassan Al Thawadi said: “We’re looking forward to hosting the World Cup in 2022.

“Now we’ve got the Club World Cups in 2019 and 2020, so it’s exciting times for us, and there’s no doubt the Club World Cup will be an important test event.”

Liverpool will compete in the 2019 tournament after winning the Champions League

Liverpool will compete in the 2019 tournament after winning the Champions League and fans have been assured they will be allowed to drink if they visit Qatar.

Al Thawadi added: “We’ve answered that question many times but yes, everyone will be welcome, everybody will be able to enjoy the tournament.

“I’ll give you the full operational details later but I can say it will be a great learning opportunity for us, too.”

Liverpool will be competing for the title against the champions of world football’s other five confederations and the national champions from the host country.

Gianni Infantino has pushed ahead with plans to expand the Club World Cup to 24 teams

So far, the other qualifiers are Mexico’s Monterrey, Tunisia’s Esperance and Hienghene Sport, the Oceania champions from New Caledonia. The Asian and South American champions will be decided in November.

The current Qatari champions are Al Sadd, whose manager is former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Xavi, who recently took up the post.

As European champions, Liverpool would enter at the semi-final stage. The Reds lost 1-0 to South American champions Sao Paulo in Yokohama in the 2005 final, their only previous appearance in the competition in its current format.

The next two editions in Qatar will be the last before FIFA revamps the competition in 2021 by expanding it to 24 teams and holding it every fourth summer, in the slot currently held by the Confederations Cup.

Source – Sky Sports