Success of Asia Cup bodes well for Qatar WC in 2012

DOHA, Qatar - AFC President Mohammed Bin Hammam has praised Qatar’s hosting of the ongoing Asian Cup, saying the experience bodes well for when the country hosts the World Cup in 2022.

“It’s been an extremely well organized event by Qatar,” Bin Hammam, the Qatari president of the Asian Football Confederation told the tournament’s Web site. “Although it is 12 years between now and 2022, it was a very good rehearsal for that competition.”

The tiny oil-rich Gulf emirate has been in the spotlight since it was awarded the right to host the world’s biggest single sporting event by world governing body FIFA last month.

Organizers, however, have suffered little criticism for their hosting of the 16-team premier Asian tournament, which concludes with the final match on Saturday.

The Qatar World Cup in 2022 is scheduled to be played in the summer months when the temperatures can soar to more than 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).

Debate has already started about the viability of staging the finals in such hot weather or whether it should be moved to the winter with far more agreeable temperatures, but no decision on that is likely to be taken in the immediate future.

Reuters