FIFA president raises idea of joint Israel-UAE 2030 World Cup bid
Gianni Infantino makes comments about joint Israel-Arab World Cup bid during first visit to Jewish state
FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Tuesday raised the idea of Israel participating in a regional bid led by the United Arab Emirates to host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino made the remarks during a visit with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at his office in Jerusalem, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.
Bennett congratulated the head of soccer's international governing body on his first visit to the Jewish state.
FIFA organizes the World Cup — the biggest sports tournament globally — every four years. The next World Cup in 2022 will be hosted by Qatar, followed by 2026 in the three countries of North America — the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Infantino raised the possibility that Israel would host matches along with other Arab countries.
Israel last year signed the Abraham Accords that normalized relations with the UAE and Bahrain, with the later additions of Morocco and Sudan.
The meeting was also attended by former senior US administration officials: former US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman.