FIFA has confirmed that the 2021 Club World Cup will now be held in the United Arab Emirates in “early 2022”.
According to Eurosport, the World football governing body through its president Gianni Infantino confirmed that they had selected the Middle Eastern country as the replacement for the original host nation, Japan.
2021 Olympics hosts Japan were scheduled to host the tournament this December but had to forfeit the hosting rights last week because of the coronavirus pandemic in the Asian nation.
As a result, FIFA has now opted to bring the competition back to the UAE, which has hosted the competition on four previous occasions, most recently in 2018.
Champions League winners Chelsea will now have to head to the middle east next year to compete for the tournament for the second time in their history.
Thomas Tuchel‘s side will enter at the semi-final stage alongside CAF Champions League winners Al Ahly, New Zealand side Auckland City and Emirati champions Al Jazira Club.
Chelsea are the European representatives and will be looking to win the trophy for the first time in their history. They were beaten by South American side Corinthians the last time they played in the tournament in 2012.
