Qatar's Preparations for the 2022 World Cup

posted on: Sep 7, 2020

Diario AS

By: Jackson Chasen-Buckley/ Arab America Contributing Writer

In less than two years, the global population will flock to their TVs, tablets, and phones in order to witness the quadrennial sports competition known as the World Cup in the Arab country of Qatar in 2022. It is here where thirty-two of the Earth’s International Football (Soccer) teams will compete against each other in order to win the tournament and claim the FIFA World Cup Trophy.

Stadia Magazine                                                                                                   In total, only seventeen countries have been able to host the event; Qatar takes the title of being the first West Asian and smallest country to provide the competition. Like previous host countries, there are preparations that need to be completed ahead of time. Qatar takes on the challenge of gathering resources in order to sustain the football spectacle. In total, Qatar is taking precautions in order to ensure that this World Cup is one to remember.

Combatting the Heat

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When FIFA announced that Qatar will be the host nation, critics had their concerns on the scorching heat. During the summer months, of which the World Cup is usually played, the temperature averages around 37.8 ‘C (100 ‘F) in Qatar. In order to combat this, FIFA announced that the event would be moved to the winter months. The tournament is set to begin on November 21st and conclude on December 18th. Even with this, the conditions are still unfavorable to the players, as the temperature still averages around 30 ‘C (86 ‘F). Thankfully, the games are scheduled to be played during the evening/night.

Another method that the country is employing is through the use of climate-controlled stadiums. Thanks to Qatari technology, the stadium will have automated temperature controls. This will keep the venue at around 25 ‘C (77 ‘F), which is a perfect football temperature. Reuters interviewed Saud Abdul-Ghani, the lead Qatari mechanical engineer who led the design. He explained how the system is designed to adjust to anything to keep the temperature stable. In addition, ball-sized tubes around the pitch provide cold air to the stadium as well as sprinklers outside the stadium for the same effect.

Accommodations

With the World Cup comes the gigantic fan presence. Around 4.5 million tourists flocked their way into Russia for the 2018 World Cup. Not all visitors attended the matches. Many chose to instead explore Russia’s cultural sights, as well as food options and its breathtaking architecture. The same will be for Qatar, although, the nation faces the challenge of providing lodging for the visitors. Qatar estimates that 160,000 fans will be the peak attendance. FIFA requires at least 100,000 rooms to be available by the time the event begins. According to the New York Times, Qatari officials are trying to provide incentives for travelers to visit for just a day. This alleviates the difficulty of providing housing for the visiting fans.

With the prospect of over 100,000 tourists attending, Qatar is hoping to amaze visitors by providing a variety of lodging locations. The normal hotels and apartments will be making room for the incoming population. In addition, Qatar will be providing desert campsites. Fans will have a great opportunity to camp out under the Qatari night sky. Even better, Qatar is employing the use of floating hotels. These luxury accommodations will come with restaurants, bars, and lounges. Guests will be able to look from their rooms and gaze across the Arabian Gulf.

Can Qatar Handle the Pressure?

It is safe to say that Qatar has a lot on its plate for the upcoming world football spectacle. Approximately 3.6 billion watched the 2018 World Cup. That is almost half of the global population! With the expansion of technology, it is almost certain that the viewership numbers will be larger for the 2022 World Cup. This provides Qatar with a wonderful opportunity to provide fans/viewers with an accurate view of Arab culture and hospitality. Team supporters will have an enormous amount of things to do when they arrive in Qatar. Some of these include: Visiting the Musem of Islamic Art, traveling to the Katara Cultural Villiage, and walking around the Pearl.

The World Cup has been able to seemingly break down international barriers. Fans of different races, religions, and homelands all stand side-by-side to witness their nation play football. It is one of those times in history where people stop what they are doing in order to catch a glimpse of ongoing matches. Qatar has a very big challenge ahead with organizing the entire spectacle. However, if they can pull it off, they have the potential to make the 2022 World Cup a memorable one.

 

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