President Ahmadinejad in a telephone conversation with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said that hosting football world cup 2022 is a big athletic event which can promote football in the Persian Gulf area and Middle East region.



He expressed Iran’s readiness for cooperation with Qatar in holding such a reputable tournament and also expressed hope that the regional countries could achieve a reasonable share to attend the games.



Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, for his part, called Iran an important and effective country in the region adding that using Iran’s experiences in different fields would be beneficial for regional countries.



He also underlined necessity of cooperation between regional countries to use and take advantage of the sport opportunity and expressed hope that hosting the event by Qatar creates a motive for countries of the region to promote and develop their football.