Qatar ready to host the greatest show on earth

Qatar ready to host the greatest show on earth

2022 World Cup hosts building infrastructure with futuristic design, writes Tor Chittinand in Doha

The 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar is unique in many aspects.

For a start, it will be the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East.

It will also be the first finals to take place in winter to avoid the summer heat in the region.

The weather in Qatar will still be quite hot in November and December, so there will be a cooling system in the stadiums and on the pitch.

It would have been the first World Cup with 48 teams had Fifa not dropped its plan a few days ago.

It would also be the most environmental friendly World Cup, according to the local organisers.

Nasser Al Khater, CEO of the 2022 Fifa World Cup, said Qatar aims to leave a legacy as the most environmental friendly finals.

"We know that this World Cup has the capability to be the most environmental friendly World Cup because it cuts out 'air travel' completely," he told visiting journalists recently.

"We will rely on the metro [underground railway] and environmental friendly buses that will either be electrical or low emission."

There will be eight stadiums for the 2022 tournament, the second of which, Al Wakrah, was inaugurated last week.

It is the first venue for the 2022 World Cup to be built from scratch.

"We are expecting one more stadium to be launched this year, possibly two. If not, then the fourth one will be launched at the beginning of 2020. We hope to complete all of our stadiums by 2020 or latest by 2021," said Al Khater.

Khalifa International Stadium is also ready, he said.

The 40,000-seat Al Wakrah Stadium was designed by the late British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid.

It has been renamed Al Janoub, which means 'stadium of the south', for the obvious reason as it is the southern most stadium for the 2022 World Cup.

The US$575 million stadium was inaugurated on May 16 with Al Sadd taking on Al Duhail in the Emir Cup final.

The event was witnessed by Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

The game ended with Al Duhail thrashing Al Sadd 4-1.

"I've travelled the world and I've been to stadiums in different cities including the UK," Yousef Al Jaber, a 35-year-old oil company research director from Doha, told AFP.

"Finally I was able to go to one in Qatar that is world-class," added the Chelsea fan, who watched the game with his wife and two sons.

"It's a one of a kind, it's a futuristic design. Al Wakrah is a coastal city and the architecture is inspired by that."

The venue's distinctive retractable roof -- meant to resemble the sails of a traditional dhow fishing boat -- is made of 1,400 pieces and was shipped to Qatar from Italy.

Al Janoub Stadium project manager Thani Al Zarraa said Qatar is ready to host football's greatest show.

He said Qatar wants to prove that it is capable of building World Cup infrastructure.

"It's not just for the sake of building but also the legacy in the designs and we have a lot of facilities that are usable and sustainable for the local Warkah community," he said.

However, Al Janoub Stadium will be reduced to 20,000 seats after the tournament.

Transportation will soon be ready as highways have been constructed and the metro system was launched last week.

With 13 stations currently active, the metro consists of a total of 37 stations across three lines and will facilitate smooth movement of fans from one stadium to another.

Although the 2022 World Cup will take place from November to December, the organisers, to avoid the heat, have left no stone unturned and planned to install an innovative cooling system at the stadiums that will cool the spectator areas.

A pitch cooling system will also supply air across the area and onto the field of play to ensure pleasant playing conditions for the players.

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