Vice President Dhankhar to attend FIFA men's world cup 2022 opening ceremony in Qatar

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According to a release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar will represent India at the inauguration of the 22nd Men’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar on 20 November 2022. Vice President Dhankhar will be visiting Qatar on November 20-21 at the invitation of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar. 

The 60,000-capacity Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor will host the opening ceremony on 20 November 2022 just before the first match between host Qatar and Ecuador. 

According to the MEA, besides attending the inaugural ceremony of the football World Cup, the vice president will also interact with members of the Indian community during his visit.

India Qatar Relations 

• India and Qatar enjoy close and friendly relations with multifaceted partnerships extending to areas of trade, energy, security, defence, health, culture, and education, among others.
•  In the last financial year, bilateral trade crossed USD 15 billion.
• Qatar plays an important partner in India’s energy security and India participates in Qatar’s food security. 
• Next year, both countries will be celebrating 50 years of the establishment of full diplomatic relations.
• People-to-people ties form an important element of the bilateral relationships with over 840,000 Indians in Qatar. 

FIFA men’s World Cup 2022

• The 22nd FIFA men’s world cup will be held in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022. 
• It is the first time that an Arab country will host the tournament.
• It is the second world cup to be held in Asia after the 2002 World cup which was jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea.
• A total of 32 teams will participate in the world cup.
• La'eeb is the official mascot of the Cup. It is inspired by the keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men. 
• The name of the football to be used during the world cup is Al Rihla.  Al Rihla means “Journey” in Arabic.
• It has been made by the German multinational company Adidas.
• It is the 14th successive time that a ball made by Adidas will be used in the FIFA world cup.
• Al-Rihla is the first FIFA World cup ball to be made exclusively with water based inks and glues.

FIFA WORLD CUP 

• It is an international men’s senior football championship organised by FIFA and it is held every four years. No world cup was held in 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War.
• The first world cup was held in 1930 and the 21st world cup was held in Russia. 
•  The 2026 Men’s world cup will be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
• The current champion is France.
• Brazil is the most successful team in the world having won it 5 times. Italy and Germany have won it 4 times each.

Headquarter of FIFA: Zurich, Switzerland 

FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association)