FIFA President encourages co-hosting of 2026 World Cup

Madrid, Feb 17: FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed that he supports the co-hosting of the FIFA World Cup 2026 by three or four countries, using four or five venues each.

"We will encourage co-hosting for the World Cup because we need FIFA to show we are reasonable and we have to think about sustainability long-term," Infantino said, during his visit to Qatar on Thursday, reports Efe.

The head of football's international governing body said that this proposal is perfectly in line with FIFA's "sustainability and legacy to maybe bring together two, three, four countries who can jointly present a project with three, four, five stadiums each."

Reflecting on the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Infantino said that he is not worried about the fanatical Russian supporters, who could cause problems as the competition develops, and expressed his full confidence in the Russian authorities in handling this issue.

Infantino also revealed that the Russians have already made contact with UEFA and the organising committee of France's Euro 2016 for more insight.