World Football governing body, FIFA has debunk news reports claiming that Arab nations plan to boycott the 2022 World Cup billed to be hosted by Qatar. The fake report was published on a website designed to appear like an authentic Swiss news publication, 'The Local". The report claimed that the decision to boycott the competition was because of Qatar's alleged support for terrorism. The report specifically described Qatar as a terrorist nation.
Recall that Qatar is in the midst of an acrimonious diplomatic dispute with its Arab neighbours, who have severed ties with the gulf country. The gulf state has been accused of supporting Islamist opposition groups and extremists, allegations it vehemently denies.
The report further claimed that the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino had told the news outlet that Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Mauritania, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt had written to FIFA requesting cancellation of Qatar as the host or risk their withdrawal from the tournament.
Meanwhile, the spokesman of FIFA has debunked the report.
“The FIFA president has never received such a letter and he has not made any comment on that. As already said, FIFA is in regular contact with the Qatar 2022 Local Organizing Committee and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy handling matters relating to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.”
Also, the authentic "The Local" newspaper has dissociated itself from the report. It stated that the article which has been circulated widely appeared on a fake site created to appear as The Local
“The article appeared on a fake site designed to look like The Local’s own site. There is no trace of it in our systems, nor any evidence that anyone tried to access our content management system”
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