The International Football Association (FIFA) confirmed, Thursday, that the start of the World Cup finals will be brought forward by one day, and that the competitions will start on the 20th of November, after the official launch was scheduled for the 21st of it.
FIFA issued a statement saying, “The host country Qatar will play Ecuador on November 20.”
He added, “The opening match and the World Cup finals ceremony were presented at Al Bayt Stadium, one day after a unanimous decision taken by the FIFA Council.”
The opening match between Qatar and Ecuador was supposed to take place on November 21, but it was not the first match that day.
And companies tied to big deals with the World Cup have expressed confidence that the extraordinary shift in the calendar can be handled smoothly.
“This is something we will deal with,” said Jaime Byrom, chairman of Match Hospitality, which has a partnership deal with FIFA to organize hospitality packages for World Cup matches and has already booked 450,000 tickets for the finals.
“It’s really not a big problem compared to other challenges we might have faced or faced in the past,” Berum told AFP.
The opening match will be held at the 60,000-seat Al Bayt Stadium, one of seven new stadiums built for the World Cup since Qatar won the right to host the finals in 2010.
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