Iraq have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after Qatar fielded an ineligible player in their clash in March. FIFA had earlier determined that despite the fact Brazil-born Emerson was unable to play for the Middle Eastern nation, Iraq had taken too long to appeal and therefore the result of the match, which Qatar won 2-0, stood.

If Iraq are successful in getting the result of that match overturned, then they will have finished in the top two positions in that qualifying pool and feel they have every right to demand they take Qatar’s spot in the final group stage.

The CAS held a hearing into the matter on Wednesday but on Friday said it could take "two or three weeks" to determine if Qatar are eligible to compete in the final group stage.

CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb said: "In the end the parties did not request an urgent ruling so the CAS panel will release a decision together with the grounds in two or three weeks."

And Sheikh Hamad does not appear too worried about the outcome as he insists there has been no wrongdoing on Qatar’s part.

He told PA Sport: "The CAS made a hearing session on Wednesday and they have heard the position of all parties. The judges saw the whole situation although the final decision is yet to be taken."

"We at Qatar FA followed the whole case right from the beginning but our position is clear. We have legal representatives who are following the case."

"In general, the whole issue is not of our interest because we didn’t make any mistake. If there is any side who made a mistake then they should be punished but that’s not us."

Sheikh Hamad claims Qatari FA officials have tried their best to isolate the whole issue from national-team players, who have gained four points from their two matches so far in the final round of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

"The whole case is raised by Iraq FA who have such a right and they filed their appeal against us and FIFA," the Qatari FA president added.

"We tried our best to keep our players concentrated in the previous two matches against Uzbekistan and Bahrain.

"I think we were successful in this as the team played a perfect match against Uzbekistan and a good first half against Bahrain."

Iraqi FA general secretary Ahmed Abbas has yet to hear anything official on the CAS decision - either on the ruling or the delay in the decision.

"Basically there is still nothing official," said Abbas to PA Sport. "I received a lot of calls earlier today about this issue and I have even heard that the CAS ruled in our favour but there is nothing official."

"We submitted our files and the CAS have heard all the parties involved. If they decided to postpone the resolution, then there should be quite a good reason for that."

Qatar are now at the top of Group One - which also features Australia, Japan, Uzbekistan and Bahrain - in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers but the whole qualification process could be affected if CAS overturn FIFA’s ruling

and rule in favour of Iraq.

"We have demanded to postpone the matches in the group until the CAS take their decision," added Abbas. "However, Qatar FA asked FIFA not to postpone the matches and, if CAS rule in our favour, then FIFA should be responsible for the consequences."

"Our cause is true because what happened broke FIFA’s laws and this is our right," he said. "We don’t want to have any problems with any party and the officials at Qatar FA are our friends and brothers."

"Saudi FA has previously appealed against Iraq U16 national team who fielded an ineligible player and they won the case," continued Abbas. "We complied with the AFC decision at that time and we should have a fair treatment this time around."