Qatar World Cup brought forward

Doha – The World Cup’s start will be brought forward by a day to allow hosts Qatar to play the opening game, sources said, just over three months before the competition gets underway.

Qatar will now play Ecuador on 20 November, 24 hours earlier than planned.

The change will see the tournament, which was switched to November-December to avoid the Gulf country’s searing summer heat, keep to its tradition of the hosts playing the opening match of the showpiece.

Senegal and the Netherlands had been scheduled to play the first game on 21 November, followed by England against Iran and then the official inauguration match, Qatar’s World Cup debut, that evening.

“There were discussions and agreement between the two respective teams and there was a request from Conmebol – the South American confederation,” one World Cup source said, speaking on condition of anonymity as no official decision has been announced.

“We wanted to follow the tradition that either the reigning champions or the host country be involved in the opening match,” the source added.

Fifa and the Qatari organising committee declined to comment on the change to the mega event that ends on 18 December.

But another tournament source said action would be taken to help fans with tickets for the 21 November game.

“Any disruption will be dealt with so the impact is minimal,” the source said.

Companies with major deals linked to the World Cup expressed confidence that the unusual schedule change could be handled smoothly.

“It is something we will deal with,” said Jaime Byrom, chairman of Match Hospitality, which has a deal with Fifa to organise hospitality packages for World Cup matches and has locked in 450 000 tickets for the tournament.

“It is really not – compared to the other challenges that we could have faced or have faced in the past – a particularly large problem,” Byrom said.