INDUSTRY FOCUS
- Qatar’s crown prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and FIFA president Sepp Blatter attend the final match of the Crown Prince Cup football tournament between Qatari teams Al Arabi and Al Gharafa in Doha on April 24, 2010. Blatter has said that he strongly supports Qatar’s 2022 World Cup Bid. -
Qatar’s attempts to host the World Cup are made all the more significant because, if successful, it would be the first Middle Eastern country to host the event. This forms a key part of its proposal, as its organisers point out: “Qatar is truly in the Middle, neither in the East nor the West.” The nation’s bid claims “history and the future will come together in a historic choice of host nation in a global age with media and technology bringing continents closer together”. While Qatar’s wealth is undisputed and its success at hosting the Motocyle Grand Prix is clear, there are still hurdles the country will have to overcome. Climate is one issue, with temperatures soaring regularly to more than 40 degrees celcius. However, the biggest obstacle facing Qatar is infrastructure. At present the country has just one airport – Doha International. This is a relatively small airport deemed unsatisfactory for a country hoping to host one of the biggest sporting events in the world. But organisers are quick to point out that this is a matter soon to be rectified. Just east of the airport, construction has already commenced on the new Doha International Airport, which is expected to be one of the biggest in the world when it is completed in 2015. There are also plans to build a metro system in Doha and upgrades are taking place on many of Qatar’s roads with a US$43 billion (QR156.5 billion) investment in infrastructure. However the biggest overhaul in Qatar will be the stadiums. Of the six largest stadiums in the country, four are located in Doha and only one of these has a capacity of more than 25,000. The Khalifa International Stadium can house 50,000 spectators, but with an estimated 500,000 World Cup fans set to descend on the country, should the bid be successful, organisers are aware of the need for serious expansion. Al Gharafa Stadium in Al Gharafa and Ahmed bin Ali Stadium (Umm Affai) in Al Rayyan have both only have a capacity of 25,000, but plans are underway to build much
bigger stadiums along with the world’s first underground stadium. It is hoped this air-conditioned stadium will help combat the heat issue. But Qatar’s biggest selling point comes in the form of flatpack stadiums. Qatar has promised a number of stadiums erected for the event will be taken down at the end of the tournament and exported to countries with poorer resources. The initiative combats the issue of unused stadiums after the World Cup ends. Following the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea, many of the newly built stadia were left unused as they were too large to stage domestic sporting events. If Qatar succeeds in removing and transporting the multimillion dollar stadiums following the tournament, community sports centres will replace them. Whether or not this can be achieved remains to be seen. Organisers of London’s 2012 Olympics had originally planned to implement a similar scheme but plans to turn the larger ‘flat pack’ stadiums into smaller venues after the event have now been scrapped. Construction is also underway on a super-stadium which would host the World Cup final in Doha. This innovative new arena would include a temperature cooling system and would be powered by sustainable energy, making it environmentally friendly. Keeping up with technological advances, organisers say the stadium would have a 3D system which will “bring the images of the football game one hand’s distance from your seat”. But the country knows hosting an international event as big as the World Cup takes more than just fancy stadiums. Indeed, Qatar’s bid has received massive assistance in the form of a US$20 billion (QR73 billion) cash injection in tourism. The Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has committed to building 40 new hotels with around 7000 rooms. The move is an attempt to make Qatar a tourist destination as opposed to being known primarily for its oil and gas. JULY 2010
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