Chaired by FIFA President Blatter, the FIFA Executive Committee completed its first meeting of the year at the Home of FIFA in Zurich.

Based on the proposal of theTask Force for the International Match Calendar 2018-24 chaired by Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa, the executive decided that the 22nd edition of FIFA’s flagship event would be played in November and December 2022, with the final taking place on 18 December 2022 – Qatar’s National Day – and with the objective, in principle, of staging the tournament in 28 days.

A working group will meet in due course to finalise the international match calendar for the 2019-2022 cycle.

FIFA President Blatter and Secretary General Jérôme Valcke also provided updates on their recent visits to Qatar with a focus on workers’ welfare.

The executive acknowledged that the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy is doing a thorough job with regards to the workers’ welfare programme applied to 2022 projects but reiterated that sustainable welfare standards must be achieved across the country for all workers.