November 4 – The injury list to key players is mounting just a fortnight before the World Cup, hitting preparations hard and fuelling the debate about staging the tournament in mid-season.
November 4 – Qatar authorities are relaxing strict entry rules during the later phase of the World Cup and will now allow in fans without tickets from December 2 when the group stage ends.
November 3 – News has broken in Switzerland of an alleged $387 million intelligence operation funded by Qatar to spy, gather information and destroy the reputations of football executives and who might be contrary to their interests and threaten their ability to complete the hosting of the World Cup.
November 3 – FIFA’s claim that the Qatar World Cup will be carbon neutral has been rubbished by leading climate experts as dangerous and misleading while environment activists have filed complaints with advertising regulators in several European countries over alleged “greenwashing”.
November 3 – Qatar’s health authorities are confident there will be no serious fan incidents at the World Cup where over 1 million spectators are anticipated later this month.
November 2 – Qatar has rejected calls for a compensation fund for migrant workers killed or injured during World Cup preparations, reports Agence France Press, with the country’s labour minister labelling the calls for a fund a “publicity stunt”.
November 2 – British police officers deployed in Qatar for the World Cup will not tell fans how to behave, instead acting as “cultural interpreters” between supporters and local authorities, according to Chief Constable Mark Roberts.
November 1 – The Ukrainian FA has called on FIFA to throw Iran out of the World Cup over what it describes as the country’s “systematic human rights violations” and “the possible involvement of Iran in the military aggression of Russia against Ukraine”.
November 1 – In a remarkable move, World Cup organisers have agreed to pay for the flights and hotels of selected fan groups in exchange for promoting the tournament on social media.
November 1 – Japan will target the last eight of the World Cup, the country’s coach Hajime Moriyasu (pictured) said as he named his 26-team squad for the tournament in Qatar.
November 1 – Thousands of goals scored in Danish soccer in November will raise money for migrant workers who helped build World Cup projects in Qatar.
November 1 – Reigning champions France have suffered another blow ahead of the World Cup with the news that midfielder Paul Pogba will miss the tournament after failing to recover from knee surgery.
October 31 – Qatar’s World Cup preparations continue to be buffeted by off-the-field political interventions with Germany’s human rights envoy postponing an official visit.
October 31 – Thousands of fans heading to the World Cup risk having their tickets annulled because of the volume being sold on unauthorised websites, cybersecurity experts have warned.
October 30 – With just 21 days to go before the Qatar 2022 World Cup kick-off, Chinese smartphone-maker vivo has announced it has become an Official Sponsor and the Official Smartphone of the event.