Final decision on number of 2022 stadiums to be taken next year

A final decision on the number of stadiums to be used at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup will not be made this year, according to football’s world governing body.

An official told AFP that the long-awaited announcement would instead be made in ‘due course’ though not before the end of December, as had been previously expected.

“The final number of stadiums to be used for the 2022 FIFA World Cup is part of the overall ongoing infrastructure discussion and a decision will be taken in due course,” said the official.

Originally, a final decision on venue numbers — largely predicted to be eight, though the initial bid allowed for up to 12 — was expected to be taken by the end of 2015.

When that deadline passed it was expected the number would finally be announced this year.

FIFA is thought to be still assessing several issues.

These include transport, the number of games to be played each day and the fact the tournament will take place over 28 days — shorter than normal — and its potential impact on pitches.

By comparison, Russia's World Cup in 2018 will be held over 32 days in 12 different venues, the same as in Brazil in 2014.

If eight stadiums are used, it will mean the 2022 finals will have the smallest number of venues at any tournament since Argentina in 1978.

Only six different stadiums were used then but only 16 nations qualified for that tournament. In Qatar, 32 teams will take part. Construction on all stadiums is expected to finish by 2020.