Russia and Qatar will “cooperate closely” on their respective preparations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups ©The Kremlin

Russia and Qatar will “cooperate closely” in their respective preparations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups after Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Thani met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, it has been announced.

The decision was made at a Governmental visit from the Qataris to the Russian capital and follows working-level contacts being established between the Organising Committees of the two tournaments in 2011.

Putin and Thani, a member of the International Olympic Committee, also discussed a range of other co-operation topics including the Syrian war and stability in the energy markets.

“We have traditionally close ties in the field of sports, and today His Highness the Emir and the Russian president reiterated the mutual commitment to a very close cooperation in this field, including in the context of the World Championships in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

The way in which the two editions of the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 were awarded remains under investigation from criminal authorities following alleged corruption and bribery.

It has been claimed that bribes were taken in exchange for votes and the two processes are at the heart of a widespread probe into wrongdoing within world football’s governing body.

This has prompted calls for the bidding processes to be re-run, with FIFA Presidential candidate Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa recently claiming they could be run again “if serious wrongful conduct is proven by a court of law" should he be elected as head of the organisation at an Extraordinary Elective Congress in Zurich on February 26.

The meeting took place in Moscow and saw the two leaders discuss a range of matters
The meeting took place in Moscow and saw the two leaders discuss a range of matters ©The Kremlin

The Asian Football Confederation President, along with Frenchman Jérôme Champagne, has also called for the Garcia report into both bids be published with redactions.

Fellow candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, however, believes it should be revealed in full because “people need to know what is going on at FIFA”.

FIFA decided Garcia’s report would not be released in full back in December 2014.

Instead, a 42-page summary was published, which cleared Russia and Qatar of wrongdoing in their successful bids to win the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments respectively.

Garcia, an American lawyer, then resigned his position as the independent ethics investigator and questioned the handling of the overall handling of the affair.

Russia and Qatar were awarded the rights to the World Cups in December 2010.