Find Latest 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup News and Live Updates Match Streaming, Schedule, News, Score and Results.

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FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar host cities & stadiums

1. Al Janoub Stadium

City: Al Wakrah
Capacity: 40,000
Games hosted: Group stage

2. Khalifa International Stadium

3. Stadium 974

4. Al Thumama Stadium

5. Ahmed bin Ali Stadium

6. Education City Stadium

7. Al Bayt Stadium

8. Lusail Iconic Stadium

City: Lusail
Capacity: 80,000
Games hosted: Group stage, round of 16, quarter finals, semi finals, final

 The Abu Samra border will be expanded to facilitate traffic to and from Qatar, according to Director of the Land Customs Department Ahmed Al Sahel in a General Authority of Customs (GAC) monthly newsletter.

The expansion of Qatar’s only land port would include a new special area that will specifically receive spectators for the FIFA 2022 World Cup to be held in the Gulf state next year.

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The global sporting event, the first to be held in the Middle East, is predicted to attract 1.2 million travellers to Qatar.

“The Abu Samra border port expansion includes inspection platforms for tourists’ vehicles, a special area to receive fans, sports teams, and delegations,” said Al Sahel.

Qatar has its eyes on becoming a tourism and hospitality hub even after the 2022 World Cup.

The hotel sector has already witnessed a 7% growth in occupancy rates during the first half of 2021 compared with the same period last year.

Head of communications at the SC Fatma Al Nuaimi told AFP that the event will be drawing in tourists from all over the world, all of whom will be hosted in an array of traditional and innovative accommodation options, including hotels, cruise liners, fan villages, and vacation rentals.

The border expansion will only further facilitate travel for more fans to enjoy the global event.

“This expansion is expected to facilitate the process of inspection of goods and tourists’ vehicles to support the flow of commercial traffic in and out of the country and contributing to reviving Qatar’s tourism,” said Al Sahel.

Read More: Abu Samra Land Crossing will be extended for the arrival of Qatar 2022 fans 

 Authorities have launched an investigation to catch violators who destroyed seats in the stands of Education City stadium following a FIFA Arab Cup match on Friday.

The Safety and Security Operations Committee of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 issued a statement on Saturday confirming that authorities will take legal action against vandalisers found guilty of breaking the seats in the stands of one of the Qatar World Cup stadiums. 

The statement came following the emergence of footage on social media that showed a number of seats completely destroyed at the Education City stadium after a quarter-finals match between Tunisia and Oman in Doha.

The Committee called on all sports fans to remain responsible, abide by the laws, and to maintain facilities while supporting their football teams.

Tunisia and Oman played a thrilling match on Friday with the Tunisian team sealing a 2-1 win to qualify for the semi-finals of the FIFA Arab Cup 2021. 

Authorities in Qatar have been taking strict security measures at stadiums hosting the matches, all of which were built for the major sporting event next year.

Fans attending the matches are restricted from entering the venues with a list of items, even including water bottles.

 Next year’s World Cup – the first to be hosted in the region – will be an “incredible” and unforgettable experience for spectators around the globe and will have a major impact on Arab youth across the region, a number of international, regional and local Qatar Legacy Ambassadors said.

Australian football legend, Tim Cahill said the Gulf state has done an “incredible” job ahead of the mega tournament next year.

“We are very fortunate to be here,” Cahill noted at a press conference ahead of the Amir Cup final on Thursday.

The host nation has been undertaking extensive efforts to exceed global standards in terms of infrastructure, facilities and security across the country ahead of the event next year.

“I know that it’s going to be a successful world cup because the infrastructure behind everything has been first-class and the main thing is when you have… the have the FIFA Arab Cup [coming up]..everything that we’ve been preparing for has been amazing during a pandemic and now hopefully coming out of one, so thumbs up from me,” Cahill added.

“I’m really impressed to see the levels of what they’re producing,” the international QLA said.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have a kick around on some of these stadiums and I’m blown away. Overall, it’s incredible that they can produce this level and it’s going to be really exciting because there’s only 400 days left and we all know that that’s right around the corner,” he added.

The comments on Thursday came just a day ahead of Friday’s Amir Cup final match at Al Thumama Stadium between Al Rayyan and Al Sadd. The exciting battle between the local Qatari rivals marked the inauguration of the sixth FIFA World Cup 2022 venue.

The 40,000-capacity stadium will also host the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021 next month.

“The biggest thing for me is the level of detail that is going into the training pitches, the facilities, the things that players need. That’s definitely really important because that adds to the performance,” Cahill said.

Qatar will not only be the first to host the FIFA World Cup in the Middle East, but will also be the first ever to host it during November and December – instead of June and July – due to its hot climate.

Like all World Cup stadiums, the most recently inaugurated Al Thumama facility was designed and built by a designated team to offer the most advanced cooling technology. It also boasts a unique white exterior, “which reflects the sun and helps to keep the stadium cool,” experts said.

Speaking at the press conference on Thursday, regional QLA Wael Gomaa said: “I have visited all the stadiums here in Qatar, this reminds me when i was a player I only dreamt to have such an infrastructure.”

For the Egyptian football star, the fact that Qatar is the first Arab nation to host the World Cup is a dream.

“Qatar organising the World Cup was actually a dream come true, no one even dreamt before that an Arab country could organise such a huge event, but now it is a reality,” said.

“I remember the first time I visited Brazil in 2014 and Russia in 2018 – I’ve seen many things but what I’ve seen in Qatar in a short period of time in terms of infrastructure and sports and how they impact people, is a dream come true for us,” he added.

“This will have a huge impact on the Arab world and the Arab youth.”
World Cup winner and Brazilian QLA, Cafu said based on his previous World Cup experiences that he “can guarantee that Qatar’s World Cup is going to be different from all the other editions.”

He noted the World Cup being hosted in Qatar makes it “very easy to transport from one stadium to the other – that is why it is gonna be an amazing World Cup.”

Compared with previous host countries, Qatar is the smallest ever nation to bring the World Cup to its shores, meaning the tournament will be the most “compact” to date.

Sixty-four matches over 28 days will take place in close proximity, with the maximum travel distance between stadiums just 75km. One of the major environmental benefits of Qatar 2022 is the elimination of domestic flights during the tournament, the organising Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy says on its website.

This also means visitors and international football fans in Qatar will have the advantage of watching more than one match per day without worrying about flight transfers – cutting both costs and emissions.

“Qatar is totally ready for this global event, the infrastructure is completely ready as we witness the opening of the sixth stadium,” Omani footballer and QLA, Ali Al Habsi said.

“We have seen during the coronavirus pandemic that Qatar has organised many events and all proper health measures were in place and respected,” he added.

 Organisers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), have hopes to attract 1.2 million visitors to the country during the tournament.

Head of communications at the SC Fatma Al Nuaimi told AFP that the event will be drawing in tourists from all over the world, all of whom will be hosted in an array of traditional and innovative accommodation options, including hotels, cruise liners, fan villages, and vacation rentals.

Officials have said that 16 floating hotels will also be built in Qatar, providing almost 1,600 rooms in total.

Al Nuaimi said the SC’s “Host a Fan” initiative will give travellers to Doha an opportunity to learn about Qatari culture.

“We are a hospitable people, and this will be applied to the World Cup as well,” said Al Nuaimi to AFP.

Al Nuaimi also addressed concerns that some fans and commentators have expressed on the Gulf country’s conservative culture and how that fares for the tournament.

While alcohol is not part of Qatari culture, “alcoholic beverages will be available in designated areas,” such as Fan Zones, she said.

Speaking on criticism targeting Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers, many of whom are involved in construction preparation for the tournament, the SC official said: “We try not to let these criticisms hold us back”.

Authorities in Qatar have repeatedly reminded the international community of ongoing work towards improving working conditions and ensuring that workers’ right are protected nationwide.

Since winning the bid in 2010, Qatar has engaged in major work to address such issues, rolling out labour law reforms, protection initiatives and awareness campaigns.

The FIFA World Cup 2022 is due to be held in Qatar in November next year, less than 400 days from now. The global event will mark the first such major tournament to be held in the Middle East region.

So far, 98 percent of the construction is ready, and “preparations will be completed by the end of the year,” Al Nuaimi added. On Friday, the 40,000-seat Al-Thumama stadium was the latest to be inaugurated during a match the hosted the Amir Cup final.

Qatar has already opened give other stadiums, including Ahmad Bin Ali, Al-Janoub and Education City stadiums, alongside the refurbished Khalifa ground.

The opening ceremony for Qatar 2022 will be held at Al Bayt Stadium, while the final will be played on 18 December – coinciding with Qatar National Day – of the same year at Lusail Stadium

 Qatar Airways rolled out all-inclusive packages ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022 for each of the group stages, knockout matches, quarter-final games, semi-finals and final matches.

The prices vary depending on the city of departure, hotels and match ticket seat categories. 

Each package includes an international round trip ticket from the city of departure to Doha, accommodation in any category of choice with daily breakfast and match tickets to certain games as per the chosen package. 

Spectators coming to Qatar for the World Cup 2022 can also guarantee a place at their favorite team’s matches, “no matter what package you book,” QA says. 

Seven different packages are now available for purchase to fit all needs and expectations. Once purchased, the “packages are non-refundable”.

Qatar is set to host the world’s biggest football tournament in less than a year to become the first ever Middle Eastern and Arab country to do so.

The long-awaited tournament will take place between November 21 and December 18 at eight state-of-the-art stadiums built and dedicated for the big event.

FIFA officially announced earlier that the tournament will be played during the winter season for the first time due to extreme humidity and heat levels in the summer months in Doha.

The host nation has undertaken many infrastructure and construction projects ahead of the event, such as the building of multiple World Cup stadiums and other projects, including the metro system and an expansion of the Hamad International Airport.

Authorities have repeatedly said they plan to host a Covid-free World Cup and said one million shots of the vaccine will be provided to international spectators flocking to the country.

Fans will not be allowed to enter stadiums without receiving the full doses of the vaccine and the state’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said the global sporting event will go ahead as planned despite the pandemic challenges.

 Qatar passed its first test after successfully hosting the Arab Cup and now it must prepare to face bigger challenges when more than 1.2 million fans and 32 international teams will arrive for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Algerian rejoicing at Saturday's 2-0 extra-time win over Tunisia in the final – exactly a year before the 2022 World Cup decider and with FIFA president Gianni Infantino in the stands – will have been accompanied by satisfaction from Qatari officials.

More than 600,000 tickets were sold for the 16-team Arab Cup, including a Qatari-record 63,439 crowd when the host played fierce rival, the UAE in the quarterfinals.

Six of the eight World Cup venues were employed as Qatar took the chance to test its stadiums and training sites, transport, accommodation, volunteers and other areas including security.

A fan ID system was dropped midway through the tournament following reports of long queues and complaints from fans, but crowd trouble appeared limited to some damaged seats at the quarterfinal between Tunisia and Oman.

"Overall, I think the stadiums are ready and they are relatively convenient," said Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe who was in Qatar for the Arab Cup.

"The main problem now is everything that is happening before and after the games," he said. "The organizers now have one year to fix a certain number of problems, including transport access."

During the 19-day tournament, however, highways flowed smoothly, service on the metro system was rarely disrupted, and fears over the Omicron variant of COVID-19 did not stop thousands of fans from packing into stadiums.

Now comes the hard work as Qatar prepares for the unique task of hosting a World Cup in and around a single city, Doha, with hotel accommodation and transport network likely to come under significantly more strain.

The Gulf state will also be mindful of a cultural gap when fans from around the world arrive in a Muslim country.

Qatar will "take account of the lessons learned to organize the best World Cup", said Jassim al-Jassim, the organizing committee's vice-president of operations.

The Lusail Stadium, which will host the World Cup final, was notably not used for the tournament. In October, its project manager told AFP that it still needed final checks and tests.

Coaches were impressed by the facilities, with Algeria's Majid Bougherra, a World Cup veteran, saying "everything is perfect" – apart, perhaps, from the accommodation.

"The stadiums are great, the pitches are great. Perhaps one small downside, but it won't be the case at the World Cup, is that we were in the same hotel as everyone else," he said.

"We congratulate (Qatar) on this beautiful Arab Cup and I think the World Cup will be exceptional," Bougherra added.

Egypt coach Carlos Queiroz, the former Iran, Portugal and Real Madrid boss, said the Qatar World Cup has "all the ingredients to succeed", but called for better communications.

"If there is one advice I will give to everybody, we need to talk, because the better we talk the better the harmony between the needs inside and outside the pitch," he said.

Daniel Reyche, a sports policy and political researcher and visiting associate professor at Qatar's Georgetown University, said he was impressed by the organizers' ability to learn from their mistakes, for example by dropping the fan ID.

"Overall, I think the test went well, but it is difficult to compare the FIFA Arab Cup and the FIFA World Cup, since most visitors this time came from within the country and next year they will come from outside the country," he told AFP.

And after Qatar dismissed concerns from the LGBTQ+ community about attending the World Cup, FIFA secretary-general, Fatma Samoura, gave assurances next year's tournament would be inclusive.

"People are free to display any kind of flag they want, including the rainbow flag, without them being targeted or singled out," she said this week.

 Doha: Street photographer in Qatar garnered international recognition for an image depicting the country’s preparation for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Ajeesh Puthiyadath, an IT engineer by profession from the state of Kerala in India, pursued his passion for photography after he arrived in Qatar for work.

“Street photography connects something about life. It fills with emotion or gives us an insight, which excites me to capture unexpected moments from daily life to make an extraordinary image,” he said.

Recently, Ajeesh was recognized in the Paris International Street Photo Awards (PISPA 2021) as the Grand Winner in the Street and Architecture Category.

“I’m overwhelmed with this achievement as I consider any recognition as the greatest motivator,” he commented. 

Read More: 5 bold predictions for world football in 2022

The photograph which has bagged the award in the international competition featured Qatar’s capital, Doha. The photograph, titled “City on Shoulders”, depicts the human workforce as a significant foundation in building phenomenal structures mostly found in the city.

“The image portrays the truth ‘nothing have made in this world so far without human workforce’. All the structures around the city may not be built without the hard work of workers. And this image did absorb the soul,” he explained.

Ajeesh has also received several recognitions in the past few years, including the Year of Culture Title granted by Qatar Museum in 2019 and multiple international awards in 2020. To date, his works has been exhibited in Qatar, Washington, New York, Minneapolis, and Delhi.

Speaking about his passion for his craft, Ajeesh said: “I approach the street without any plans. I used to roam around the city after my working hours and capture the candid moments in the streets which excites me a lot. This excitement is the main key to continue street photography.”

 Qatar Airways Privilege Club continues to honour the loyalty of its valued members by extending their tier status. This initiative will benefit all Silver, Gold and Platinum members whose tier status is due for renewal between December 2021 and December 2022. The tier validity of these members would be automatically extended to 31 December 2022. 

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “At Privilege Club, we remain steadfastly committed to our members. Their loyalty means everything to us, and we will continue to honour their choice to fly with us. As the Official Airline of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Qatar Airways will continue to innovate in rewarding and recognising our members. We sincerely look forward to enriching our members’ travel experiences, and offering them more time to enjoy the incredible benefits of their tier as they plan for their travel with us in 2022, to over 140 global destinations”.

Privilege Club has continued to invest in redefining the programme, including reducing the number of Qmiles required to book award flights by up to 49 per cent and extending the validity of Qmiles to last longer than ever before. Every time a member earns or spends Qmiles, the balance is valid for an additional 36 months.

Furthermore, Privilege Club launched Hotel & Car Rewards, which allows members to earn and spend Qmiles at over 350,000 hotels and more than 20,000 car rental locations worldwide. Qatar Airways also launched Student Club, powered by Privilege Club, which offers a range of benefits curated for students to support them throughout their educational journey. Student Club recently celebrated its first anniversary with a unique discount offer designed for members to double their regular savings when they fly with Qatar Airways.

Privilege Club has launched multiple partnerships over the past year to provide members with increased opportunities of earning Qmiles, including the recent launch of reciprocal loyalty partnership with JetBlue. Privilege Club members can earn Qmiles when flying with Qatar Airways, oneworld airline partners, and other airline partners, as well as with a number of financial and lifestyle partners. Qmiles can be redeemed towards a range of rewards including award flights, cabin upgrades, extra baggage and much more.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club is the Official Frequent Flyer Programme of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and has recently commenced the one-year countdown to the highly-anticipated tournament with rewarding opportunities for members.

The national carrier of the State of Qatar continues to rebuild its network, which currently stands at over 140 destinations. With more frequencies being added to key hubs, Qatar Airways offers unrivalled connectivity to passengers, making it easy for them to connect to a destination of their choice.

A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was announced as the ‘Airline of the Year’ by the international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax, in addition to securing five additional awards including World’s Best Business Class, World’s Best Business Class Airline Lounge, World’s Best Business Class Airline Seat, World’s Best Business Class Onboard Catering and Best Airline in the Middle East. The airline continues to stand alone at the top of the industry having won the main prize for an unprecedented sixth time (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021). The airline’s hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA), was also recently recognised as the ‘Best Airport in the World 2021’, ranking at number one in the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2021.

In addition to this, Qatar Airways is the first global airline in the world to achieve the prestigious 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating by Skytrax. This follows the success of HIA as the first airport in the Middle East and Asia to be awarded a Skytrax 5-Star COVID-19 Airport Safety Rating. These awards provide assurance to passengers around the world that the airline’s health and safety measures are subject to the highest possible standards of professional, independent scrutiny and assessment.

 109th Grey Cup will kick off at Mosaic Stadium on November 20, 2022

A full slate of games and the return of a pre-season highlight the Canadian Football League schedule for 2022. Grey Cup 2022 - CFL

The CFL released its schedule on Thursday, four days after the league ended a triumphant but challenging season that followed a year off due to COVID-19.

"2021 was our comeback season and our fans welcomed back our great game with energy, excitement and enthusiasm," CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a release. "Our players and teams answered with action and entertainment, and we couldn't be more thrilled to begin the journey to Saskatchewan for the 109 Grey Cup on Sunday, November 20."

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were crowned back-to-back champions on Sunday, edging the Tiger-Cats 33-25 in overtime in the 108th Grey Cup in Hamilton.

That game capped a shortened 14-game season that saw no exhibition games to kick it off.

The 2022 pre-season will give fans a sneak peek with nine games.

The opening week of the regular season has the Montreal Alouettes visiting Calgary on June 9 as Thursday Night Football officials kicks off the season. The Blue Bombers host the Ottawa Redblacks to begin their title defence.

The reigning East Division champion Tiger-Cats kick off their season against visiting Saskatchewan, and the Edmonton Elks face the BC Lions to wrap up Week 1 action.

Week 3 will feature a Grey Cup rematch when Winnipeg hosts Hamilton.

The season features Saturday games in 20 of the 21 weeks, with 17 evening kickoff times.

The CFL will honour Canada's 155th birthday with a Canada Day matchup between the Elks and Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field, while the Labour Day Classics return with familiar foes taking the field. Winnipeg hosts Saskatchewan in a Sunday night game, before the Toronto Argonauts play in Hamilton and the Elks head to Calgary for the traditional Labour Day Monday games.

 The U.S. Men’s National Team set a new record for most wins in a calendar year with a 1-0 victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina to close out a highly successful 2021.

The victory was the 17th of the year for the MNT, surpassing the previous record of 16 wins which was set in 2013. Twenty-year-old midfielder Cole Bassett, one of four players to make his international debut on the night, tucked in an 89th minute game-winner for his first MNT goal, becoming the 57th player to score in his MNT debut. Bassett had entered the game in the 78th minute.

With a 17-2-3 record, the team also ends the year with a .841 winning percentage, the team’s best in a calendar year in which five or more matches were played.

With Bosnia and Herzegovina settled into a formation with five defenders and three midfielders sitting almost right on top of the back line, the U.S. had to work hard to find space and dangerous opportunities in the attacking third. U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter made the first three changes with a little under thirty minutes to go, bringing on fresh legs in search of an offensive spark. He then made three additional substitutes in the final 12 minutes and four subs combined to produce the winner.

Forward Gyasi Zardes (62nd minute sub) did well to keep a defender Bryan Reynolds (63rd minute sub) cross alive in the penalty box and it dropped to debutant midfielder Jonathan Gomez (78th minute sub) who ripped a left-footed shot from the top of the box through a sea of bodies. Bosnia’s second half goalkeeper Bemin Dizdarevic made the save, but he couldn’t hold it and Bassett (78th minute sub) pounced on the tantalizing rebound from close range for the game-winner.

Goalkeeper Matt Turner posted his ninth shutout on the year, setting another record for most clean sheets in a calendar year and passing Kasey Keller’s eight which he achieved in 2005. Turner also extended his USMNT record for most appearances by a goalkeeper during their debut year with his 13th.

Midfielder Kellyn Acosta earned his 21st cap of 2021, marking the most appearances by a USMNT player in a calendar year since 1994.

With the match falling outside of a FIFA international fixture date, Berhalter fielded a balanced starting XI that featured five players with more than 10 caps and six with less, including debutant outside back Brooks Lennon.

Lennon was joined fellow first cap winners Bassett, forward Cade Cowell and Gomez when they entered in the second half, bringing the number of players to debut under Berhalter to 53, the third most players to debut under a USMNT coach behind Bruce Arena (89) and Bob Bradley (60).

Despite being even on shots in the first half, it was the USA that created threatening opportunities. The first came after 12 minutes when Lennon pushed high from the right side and sent a cross to the near post where forward Ricardo Pepi narrowly missed re-directing the ball on frame from close range.

Winger Jordan Morris, in his first USMNT match since suffering a serious knee injury last January, was a bright spot on the night as he made his first appearance since November 2019. Morris continuously found himself in good spots from both wings. After sending in a number of threatening crosses, Morris nearly broke the deadlock at the half-hour mark, but his diving header from six yards out was incredibly saved off the leg of goalkeeper Nikola Cetkovic on the goal line.

Five minutes before halftime, Bosnia midfielder Amar Begic was shown a straight red card after a nasty challenge on Acosta. Playing a man down in the second half, Bosnia dropped even deeper and was content to defend and counter, making it even more difficult for Americans, who nevertheless kept pressing and earned the game-winner.

The USA finishes the year with a 17-2-3 record, having won the Concacaf Nations League and Concacaf Gold Cup and sitting in second place at the midway point of World Cup Qualifying.

The team will next prepare to play a trio of critical World Cup Qualifiers during the winter window, beginning with a home match on Jan. 27 against El Salvador in Columbus, Ohio (Time TBD; ESPN, UniMas, TUDN). Three days later, the U.S. will cross the northern border to take on Canada on Jan. 30 (3 p.m. ET; TV TBD), then return home to face Honduras in St. Paul, Minn. on Feb. 2 (7:30 p.m. ET; FS1).

Through eight matches of the Concacaf 14-game final round Octagonal, the team is traveling the right road. Compiling a 4-1-3 record, the USA holds second place in the standings. The top three teams earn an automatic berth to Qatar in November 2022.

 Leicester's scheduled match against Tottenham was postponed just hours before kick-off on Thursday.

Five more games scheduled for this weekend have also been postponed due to outbreaks at Manchester United, Brentford, Norwich and Watford.

United's home clash with Brighton, Brentford's trip to Southampton, Watford's meeting with Crystal Palace and West Ham's fixture against Norwich have all been called off along with Leicester's visit to Everton.

For the second consecutive day, record numbers of Covid-19 cases were recorded in Britain as the Omicron variant runs riot, with fears growing that the crisis could derail the football season.

Brentford boss Thomas Frank led calls for a firebreak of at least a week to allow the infection rate to stabilise.

"Covid cases are going through the roof at all Premier League clubs. Everyone is dealing with it and having problems," said the Dane.

"To postpone this round and also the Carabao (League) Cup round (next week) would give everyone a week at least, or four or five days to clean and do everything at the training ground so everything is clean and you break the chain."

However, the Premier League insisted games will continue where it is safe to do so and defended the rationale of postponements on a case-by-case basis rather than when a threshold of positive cases is passed.

"While recognising a number of clubs are experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks, it is the League's intention to continue its current fixture schedule where safely possible," the Premier League said in a statement. "The health and wellbeing of all concerned remains our priority."

Brentford, Watford and Leicester have all closed their training grounds to contain the outbreak, while Norwich and Manchester United were unable to field a side due to positive cases and injuries.

"(The Premier League board) will assess a number of factors, including the ability of a club to field a team; the status, severity and potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak at the club; and the ability of the players to safely prepare for and play the match," the league's statement added.

 Qatari real estate companies have been ranked among the region’s top companies by  Forbes  magazine.  Qatari  Diar,  Ezdan  Holding Group, and Barwa Real Estate Group have made it to the ranking of top companies in their respective categories in Decem-ber’s issue of Forbes Middle East.

Qatari Diar is ranked fourth in ‘Top 50 Real Estate Developers in MENA 2021’. “Established in 2005, Qatari Diar was founded by the Qatar Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund. It has a shared  capital  of  $8bn  and  50  investment projects under devel-opment across 22 countries with a total investment value of around $35bn  as  of  2020.”  noted  the  December  2021  issue  of  the  magazine.

In October 2021, Qatari Diar announced the first phase of its $63.7m CityGate project in Egypt, which  is  projected  to  create  around 200,000 jobs.The real estate market is the cornerstone of any economy and the way it moves has a rippling effect.  The  Middle  East’s  real  estate   sector   appears   to   be   bouncing back fast, with property prices increasing on the back of increased  oil  prices  and  gov-ernment policies. Forbes Middle East December 2021   issue   also   said,   Ezdan   Holding Group ranked sixth in top 50  real  estate  developers  in  MENA.

“Ezdan Holding Group was established   in1960,   initially   founded  as  a  private  company  called   Thani   Bin   Abdullah   Housing Group. It became Ezdan Real Estate Company in 2007 and was  listed  on  the  Qatar  Stock  Exchange. In September 2021, the company reported total assets of $13.8bn and $64.1m in net profit for the nine months of the year. The  group’s  market  cap  was  $11.7bn as of November 9, 2021,” noted the magazine

.Barwa Real Estate Group has been   ranked   eighth   in   the   ranking.  “Barwa  Real  Estate  Group operates 3.6 million square meters of total built space. It also owns Waseef Asset Management Company (Waseef), which pro-vides asset, property and facil-ities  management  services  to  Barwa’s projects,” Forbes issue said. “Barwa is 45 percent owned by Qatari Diar, a firm owned by the Qatar Investment Authority. It had total assets of $9.9bn by the end of September 2021, an 8.5 percent increase from the $9.1bn as of December 2020.

The firm also  reported  a  net  profit  of  $203.9m in the first nine months of 2021, a 2 percent year-on-year rise    compared    to    2020’s    $199.8m,” it added.For  the  ‘Top  Real  Estate  Developers   In   MENA   2021’   ranking, Forbes only looked at developers who have delivered their projects. It has not included some large developers across the region whose megaprojects are not yet functional.