The unveiling of the latest new stadium has been a feather in Little Qatar’s cap and has also refocused attention on the small Gulf nation winning the rights to host a global showpiece sporting event on the scale of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Qatari govt. believes that few would dispute that the new 40,000-seat stadium will be a spectacular facility. It will be located in Education City, the western-Doha campus of the Qatar Foundation, from which it takes its name – Qatar Foundation Stadium.
The beautiful new stadium promises to be yet another architectural landmark to grace the Doha skyline.
But turning again to the broader picture, the World Cup in Qatar will be significant for a number of reasons: it’s the first time the event will be staged in the Middle East, the first in an Arab country and the first in Asia since Japan and South Korea jointly held the 2002 tournament. Qatar will also replace Uruguay as the smallest country ever to stage the World Cup.
Yet the fact that Qatar decided to submit its ultimately successful bid to host the global event should come as no surprise to anyone. The country has a long track record as a venue for major international forums and gatherings.
In foreign affairs and trade circles, Qatar is well known for staging such mega-events as UNCTAD XIII, the UN Climate Change Conference, the World Petroleum Congress, the World Chambers Congress and the Doha round of GATT.
In the sporting arena, while the World Cup will clearly be a pinnacle, Qatar is no stranger to attracting big competitions. Having successfully mounted the 2006 Doha Asian Games, the country is now well established as host of an impressive annual calendar of major international events in golf, tennis, powerboat racing, rallying, equestrianism, motorbike racing, athletics and cycling, as well as various one-off tournaments and regional and world championships, such as the 24th Men’s Handball World Championships taking place this January.
Stadium construction inevitably takes centre stage in the World Cup preparations, but questions have been asked about whether the spectator capacity needed to host the World Cup will exceed the country’s own long-term requirements. The innovative solution to this issue is to ensure that the upper grandstand tiers – of both the new and refurbished stadiums – will have modular elements that can be reconfigured to provide a lasting legacy far beyond Qatar’s borders.
Once the tournament is concluded, the plan is to disassemble some 170,000 stadium seats, which will then be provided to developing nations to help build up their sports infrastructure. These will provide up to 22 new sports arenas in emerging economies, leaving Qatar with stadium capacity in line with its domestic needs.
To take the case of the Qatar Foundation Stadium, the 40,000-seat capacity needed to meet FIFA requirements will be engineered to facilitate the removal of the upper sections of the stands to leave room for just 25,000 spectators. In the words of the Qatar Foundation, the plan is to “use the power of sport to unlock human potential and harness positive social change” in developing countries.
Regarding the often-mentioned issue of summer heat, the technology for cooling open-air stadiums is already well advanced. During last year’s World Cup in Brazil, Qatar set up an open-air “fan zone” facility, where more than 10,000 fans came to mingle and enjoy the games on a big screen in comfortable temperatures of less than 20ºC.
Officials point out that advances in technology, including green sources such as solar power, make this possible, even when the outside temperature is as high as 40ºC. Published targets for grandstand temperatures include 24-28ºC for the Qatar Foundation Stadium and 26ºC for Al Wakrah Stadium. Even the Khalifa International Stadium, originally built in 1976, will have a totally new cooling system as part of its refurbishment.
Qatar is hoping for a positive economic legacy from the World Cup in terms of stimulating diversification from its current heavy reliance on the oil and gas sector. The construction phase is already stimulating a boom in non-oil industries, notably engineering, high tech and building work, while the post-construction phase is expected to bring far-reaching benefits in terms of tourism, aviation, retail and a wide range of other services.
