FIFA president says to encourage co-hosting for 2026 World Cup

DOHA, Feb 16 ( Reuters) - FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday he intends to encourage co-hosting for the 2026 soccer World Cup that could bring together three or four countries with four or five stadiums each.

Speaking during a visit to Qatar, which will be hosting the 2022 tournament, Infantino also said he was "not at all concerned" about hooliganism at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

"We will encourage co-hosting for the World Cup because we need FIFA to show we are reasonable and we have to think about sustainability long-term," Infantino said.

"It is perfectly in line with our sustainability and legacy to maybe bring together two, three, four countries who can jointly present a project with three, four, five stadiums each. We will certainly encourage it. Ideally the countries will be close to each other for the sake of ease of travel," he added. (Reporting by Tom Finn, writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Toby Chopra)