Qatar FA president hit back at Dyke over 2022 World Cup bidding process

The president of the Qatar Football Association, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani, has hit out at FA chairman Greg Dyke after his criticism of the 2022 World Cup bidding process.

Qatar secured the hosting rights for the tournament, though Dyke has questioned whether the decision to award the rights to the country was legal given recent arrests for corruption and an investigation regarding the process by Swiss authorities.

And following Sepp Blatter's resignation as Fifa president on Tuesday, Dyke commented that the organisers of the 2022 World Cup would "not sleep well".

But Sheikh Hamad has hit back at his English counterpart and claimed he should be concentrating on action on the field rather than off-field politics.

"Mr Dyke’s instinct to immediately focus on stripping Qatar of the World Cup speaks volumes on his views concerning what will be the first Fifa World Cup to take place in the Middle East," he said in a statement.

"Having already co-operated fully with Michael Garcia’s investigation – and been subsequently cleared of any wrong-doing – we welcome the Office of the Swiss Attorney General conducting its own work into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

"We would urge Mr Dyke to let the legal process take its course and concentrate on delivering his promise to build an England team capable of winning the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar."