There are huge billboards all over town, informing visitors and residents of Qatar’s intentions to bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The country’s passion is obvious, and there is little doubt it could pull in the financial muscle required to prepare its infrastructure for such an event (said to total US$42.9 billion, with US$4 billion just on match venues – but when, according to US business publication Global Finance, you are the richest country in the world, that should not be a problem). But the bid has still been met with scepticism – surely it’s too hot here, too small, it’s not developed enough, and so on.
The weighing up of the pros and cons, and the decision of whether Qatar is the best place to host to World Cup in 2022, lies with FIFA, and on September 14 six officials from football’s governing body arrived in town for a three-day inspection. Qatar was the last stop on the team’s tour of the nine countries bidding for the 2022 World Cup – others include Australia, America, Korea and Japan. But a World Cup in Qatar would be as monumental as the 2010 event in South Africa, and the first ever in the Middle East.
Talks between Harold Mayne-Nicholls, head of the FIFA inspection team, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, chairman of the Qatar 2022 Bid Committee, would have covered all aspects of the country’s potential, from the facilities it can offer players and fans, to overcoming any problems or concerns. And the Bid Committee put together a convincing presentation, involving new stadia, a new FIFA headquarters, cooling technology to beat the desert heat, plans for improving
its infrastructure, and also details of a new high-profile bid ambassador.
Addressing the press at the end of the tour, Mayne-Nicholls’ comments were positive. ‘Qatar is a very fast-growing nation, and the government’s plans for the next two decades are very ambitious,’ he said, before adding: ‘From an organisational view, Qatar has the potential to host an international event like the FIFA World Cup.’
Promising words indeed, but we will not know for certain until the verdict is announced on December 2 in Zurich. In the meantime, here is a look in more detail at the plans for what could be – and hopefully will. Fingers crossed.
For more info, go to www.qatar2022bid.com.
Step 1: Show them their swanky new HQ
If the World Cup did come to Qatar, chances are it will take more than the involvement of six FIFA officials. Where will they all work? The Bid Committee have naturally thought ahead, and part of the presentations saw the unveiling of a full scale model of the 110-storey Doha Convention Centre, currently under construction in West Bay, which would serve as the FIFA headquarters. As the tallest of all the skyscrapers in the area, the Doha Convention Centre makes a statement to the rest of the world, about the tournament and of Qatar’s ambition. Shaped like a tapering obelisk, the tower is scheduled for completion in 2012, housing offices on the lower levels, with apartments, a hotel and penthouses higher up. A private club will sit on the top floor, where no doubt the higher-ranking FIFA officials can take special guests and stare at the panoramic views.
Step 2: Take them on a helicopter ride over the city
Top of the agenda for FIFA is knowing that the players and fans will be comfortable, with easy access to games and lots of facilities. To aid the presentation, delegates were taken on a helicopter tour over Doha, but what they will have seen is nothing compared to what is planned, should the bid be a success. No doubt the tour would have taken in the site for Lusail – where the opening match and final would be held in a specially-built stadium. And the locations of the other stadia would have been explained too, as well as the plans to connect them all via a new metro system, and to Bahrain via a new bridge and rail link. Being so well connected, the plan is for fans to be able to journey from one stadium to another in less than an hour, seeing more than one game per day. And where would they stay? It would have been explained to FIFA that there would be an increase in hotel rooms too, with an extra 40,000 to be added, and a new 50 million-passenger airport. FIFA also visited Aspire, Education City and the Museum of Islamic Art on their tour.
Step 3: Unveil technology for beating the heat
One of the most obvious concerns for hosting a World Cup in Qatar is the heat, as traditionally the competition is staged in June or July. But Qatar has a solution – cooling technology that will ensure the temperature in any stadium does not rise above 27°C. FIFA officials were shown a prototype stadium equipped with the technology during their visit, which actually uses solar energy to keep itself cool – the sun heats water, which then becomes ice using tried-and-tested industrial refrigeration techniques. The way the stadium has been designed, in the use of materials and with the partly retracted roof, also keeps the coolness in. The system is said to be carbon neutral, and on non-match days the solar energy would feed Qatar’s national grid. Qatar 2022 chairman Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani said that the technology would be offered to other countries, regardless of whether Qatar’s own bid was successful.
Step 4: Reveal more hi-tech stadium designs
Just before the World Cup this year, the Qatar 2022 Bid Committee unveiled five stadia designs – three were brand new, and two were based on existing venues, albeit seriously upgraded. Two designs took inspiration from Arabic heritage, while others featured advanced technology, such as a wraparound screen that can display match footage and news updates. As part of the FIFA inspection, more designs were unveiled last month – along with plans for Qatar to spend a total of US$4 billion on stadia in total, should the event be awarded here. Four of the stadia will be built regardless of Qatar getting the World Cup, with work on a planned venue at Education City – which looks almost metallic – to start next year. As well as boasting the new cooling technology across the board, the additional stadia mainly took inspiration from Arabic designs – the Sports City Stadium looks like an Arabic tent, the proposed Umm Slal stadium has the appearance of an Arabic fort, and the Qatar University stadium is a construction of shiny gold and chrome. Perhaps the most unusual is the proposed Doha Port stadium, resting on the water and taking inspiration for its shape from a sea creature, sat on an artificial island, with its own marina and the ability to pulse with light. In total the plans would involve building nine stadia and upgrading three, making 12 venues in all for the event.
Step 5: Introduce your latest high-profile bid ambassador
Former French midfielder Zinedine Zidane is widely regarded as one of the best players in football history. The three-time FIFA World Player of the Year, Zidane was instrumental in France’s victory in the 1998 World Cup, and again two years later in Euro 2000. After a brief retirement, he returned to the team as captain for the World Cup in 2006, where he won the Golden Ball for most outstanding player. Not a bad name to have in your corner if bidding for the World Cup yourself, by any means, joining other ambassadors such as ex-Cameroon World Cup legend Roger Milla and former Netherlands player Ronald de Boer. In an unveiling ceremony to the press, Zidane said: ‘Football is for everyone. When I think of all the youth in the Middle East, what they’re missing is an event like the World Cup. We had [the 2010 World Cup] in Africa and now it is time for the Middle East.’
