FIFA on Thursday gave its support for a "pan-Arab" invitational international competition in Qatar in 2021 which will test facilities to be used in the World Cup the following year.

In a statement, the governing body of world football described the tournament as "an invitational competition for men's national teams that will be contested by Arab nations from Africa and Asia. It will involve home-based players only and be played outside the international match calendar."

The tournament is scheduled for 1-18 December 2021.

It will be run by the committee that is organising the Qatar World Cup the following year "and will allow the organisers to use facilities and run operations that are also planned for the subsequent FIFA World Cup."

The number of teams was not been specified.