DOHA – India have a lot of work to do before they can consider hosting a major football tournament, Asian football chief Mohamed bin Hammam said, casting doubt on the country holding the World Cup any time soon. Seizing on comments by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, several British newspapers said the South Asian country could be an option for the 2026 World Cup as part of Blatter’s drive to see the game spread to new frontiers.
But Bin Hammam said huge strides needed to be made if the developing country of 1.2 billion people was to stage the 2019 Asian Cup, never mind a World Cup.
“Lots of things need to be done,” the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president told the Press Trust of India news agency in Doha, where the Asian Cup is being held. Doha was controversially awarded the 2022 World Cup. “India will have to be ready and naturally infrastructure will have to be developed in a way that it meets today’s international football standards,” said Bin Hammam.
