The war cancels the Qatar Football Festival

The organizers of the Qatar Football Festival, which includes the awaited “Finalisima” match between Spain and Argentina, informed the participating Egyptian team of canceling the events, due to the security situation in the Gulf region, according to what the Egyptian national team director, Ibrahim Hassan, revealed to Agence France-Presse on Thursday.

Hassan said: "We have been informed of Qatar's apology for hosting the Qatar Football Festival due to the current circumstances in the region and consequently for receiving the Egypt national team camp. We are currently consulting with the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Federation about the fate of the March camp and the friendly matches between Saudi Arabia and Spain."

The Egyptian national team was scheduled to play with Saudi Arabia on March 26 at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, and with Spain on March 30 at Lusail Stadium, in preparation for the 2026 World Cup scheduled for the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The war has raged in the Middle East since late February. After continuous American-Israeli strikes on Tehran, the latter responded with missiles and drones in every direction of the Gulf states, targeting the American presence but also energy installations and several Israeli cities.

On Wednesday, the Qatari Ministry of Interior revealed that 16 people were injured in Qatar as a result of strikes carried out by drones coming from Iran. Flights departing from Doha are also confirmed only at the last minute, which makes planning any travel complicated. The Qatari Ministry of Interior previously announced a “high security threat level,” and called on residents not to go out and stay away from windows.

The local committee organizing football events in Qatar announced in January that it would host 6 international matches during the pause in March, most notably the “Vinalisima” Cup summit between Spain, the European champion, and Argentina, the South American champion, on March 27.

The “Finalisima” Cup match was scheduled to be held at Losail Stadium, which hosted the 2022 World Cup final between defending champion Argentina and France.

The rest of the matches would bring together Egypt with Saudi Arabia at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, Qatar with Serbia at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on March 26, Egypt with Spain at Lusail Stadium, Saudi Arabia with Serbia at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on the 30th of it, and finally Qatar and Argentina at Lusail Stadium on the 31st of the same month.