The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will be a unique and historic one in many ways and will set examples in several areas as Qatar is gearing up its preparations for the tournament.
“Qatar will donate 170,000 seats to countries in need of sporting infrastructure after the 2022 FIFA World Cup, in co-ordination with FIFA. The Ras Abu Aboud stadium, the first ever fully demountable World Cup stadium, will have 40,000 seats,” the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) states in its factsheet.
“Many of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar stadiums will have demountable seats, which will be removed and donated to countries in need of sporting infrastructure after the tournament has concluded. Ras Abu Aboud Stadium will be removed entirely after 2022 and repurposed into a variety of smaller sports and cultural venues,” SC has noted.
SC, last week, launched the registration of volunteers for the tournament and the number of people who have registered, has reached about 139,000 so far.
Nasser al-Khater, assistant secretary general for Tournament Affairs SC, during the volunteer registration event, told the media that there will be three to five fan fest venues for the tournament while Mead al-Emadi, community engagement manager, SC highlighted that volunteers of Qatar World Cup would convey the beauty of Arab culture and hospitality to the visitors.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup, the first World Cup ever to take place in the Arab world, will kick off on November 21, 2022 at Lusail Stadium, with the final due to take place on December, 18, 2022 – Qatar National Day.
There will be eight host venues for the tournament and seven of them are under construction and one – the Khalifa International Stadium – is already complete. Construction is underway on the other seven and main contractor works are set to be completed on two in 2018. Main contractor works will be completed on all eight by 2020.
According to SC, one of the unique features of the tournament is its compact nature as all proposed venues are within 55km radius. It will take a maximum of one hour to travel between stadiums and enable fans to watch more than one live match in a single day. This will also benefit players, who will not have to spend as much time on travel compared to previous tournaments, and have maximum rest and training sessions.
SC also highlights that it will be a family-friendly tournament that reflects the region’s warm, welcoming and hospitable nature, offering something for all. Travelling fans will have a variety of accommodation options that suit every budget, including three to five star hotel rooms, desert camps, cruise ships and more.
With an average low and high temperatures of 15-24°C in November - December in Qatar, the tournament would be a very pleasant one. The maximum distance between host venues is 55 kilometres from Al Bayt Stadium – Al Khor City to Al Wakrah Stadium.
It is expected that the annual capacity of Doha’s Hamad International Airport in 2022 will be about 50,000,000.
