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| As Champions League winners, Liverpool have qualified for the Club World Cup in December |
Liverpool fans have been assured they will be allowed to have a drink if they head to Qatar to watch the Reds try to win the Club World Cup in December.
The ruling council of footballโs world governing body FIFA met in Paris on Monday and approved the plan to stage the next two editions of the tournament in the Gulf state.
With Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup in November and December that year, it represents the perfect chance for organisers to test their new stadiums in 2019 and 2020 at the same time of year.
It will also be a chance for the Muslim country to learn how to deal with thousands of thirsty western football fans, and vice-versa.
Speaking to reporters in Paris, the chairman of Qatar 2022โs organising committee Hassan Al Thawadi said: โWeโre looking forward to hosting the World Cup in 2022.
โNow weโve got the Club World Cups in 2019 and 2020, so itโs exciting times for us, and thereโs no doubt the Club World Cup will be an important test event.โ
Asked if fans will be allowed to drink alcohol in the dry state, Al Thawadi said: โWeโve answered that question many times but yes, everyone will be welcome, everybody will be able to enjoy the tournament.
โIโll give you the full operational details later but I can say it will be a great learning opportunity for us, too.โ
Liverpool earned the right to compete in this yearโs tournament by beating Spurs in the Champions League final in Madrid on Saturday.
As per the recent editions, Jurgen Kloppโs men will be competing for the title against the champions of world footballโs other five confederations and the national champions from the host country.
So far, the other qualifiers are Mexicoโs Monterey, Tunisiaโs Esperance and Hienghene Sport, the Oceania champions from New Caledonia. The Asian and South American champions will be decided in November.
The current Qatari champions are Al Sadd, whose manager is former Barcelona and Spain star Xavi, who recently took up the post.
As European champions, Liverpool would enter at the semi-final stage. The Reds lost 1-0 to South American champions Sao Paulo in Yokohama in the 2005 final, their only previous appearance in the competition in its current guise.
Real Madrid won last yearโs Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, beating the host nationโs Al Ain in the final.
The competition took place from December 12-22, and a similar schedule would have this yearโs final finishing on Saturday, December 21.
The next two editions in Qatar will be the last before FIFA revamps the competition in 2021 by expanding it to 24 teams and holding it every fourth summer in the slot currently held by the World Cup warm-up event, the Confederations Cup.
It had been reported in some quarters FIFA was not going to bother with the Club World Cup before relaunching it in 2021, but that was never the case.
The hold-up in naming a host was caused by waiting to ensure Qatar would have two finished stadiums for this yearโs tournament, as the already renovated Khalifa International Stadium in Doha is being used for the World Athletics Championships in September and will not be ready for football in December.
Confirmation this yearโs Club World Cup is on means Liverpool will get the chance to add three more pieces of silverware before the year is out.
They face Premier League winners Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley in early August and Europa League winners Chelsea in the European Super Cup in Istanbul on August 14.
Press Association
