Impact of the Middle East conflict: Qatar suspends its football season

The military escalation of the conflict in the Middle East is having its first concrete impact on sport: the Qatar Football Association announced on Sunday that games in the domestic league would be suspended indefinitely. Following the American-Israeli attack in Iran, airspace was closed in several countries in the region, including the Gulf state of Qatar.

Games on the 17th matchday of the Qatari league had already been canceled on Saturday. The “finalissima” between Argentina and Spain is also at risk. The duel between the South American and European champions is scheduled for March 27th at the World Cup stadium in the Qatari city of Lusail. In addition to football, handball games were also suspended in Qatar.

The general secretary of the world association Fifa, Mattias Grafström, only spoke vaguely about the possible effects of the conflict on football and the upcoming World Cup at the Congress of Rules Keepers (Ifab) in Wales (“It would be too early to comment in detail.”). The head of the Iranian Football Association, Mehdi Taj, is said to have expressed concern on state television. Given the current situation, Iran’s participation in the World Cup in the USA in the summer is “unlikely”, but a final decision will only be made later, Taj said in Spain, among other things Mark quoted.