QATAR - The New Sport Event Destination

Before the FIFA appointed Qatar to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, most of us would probably not have associated Qatar with sports. However, in the run up to Qatar's bid for the football world cup, Qatar has already proven that it can host major sport events : Asian Championships in Handball, Basketball, Sailing, Indoor Athletics, Youth Wrestling, Fencing and Shooting. Events such as the World Team Table Tennis Championships and World Weightlifting Championships have brought international athletes and teams to the desert state. With the upcoming Handball World Championships (2015) and Road Cycling World Championships (2016) Qatar has yet secured two additional global sport events.

Furthermore, Qatar has created a large portfolio of annual sport events:

• Athletics: IAAF Diamond League
• Equestrian: FEI Equestrian Global Champions Tour
• Golf: Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
• Handball: IHF Handball Super Globe
• Motorcycling: FIM Moto Racing World Championships
• Tennis: ATP Tennis Tournament Doha & WTA Tour Tennis Championships
• Volleyball: FIVB Club World Championships

As you can see the list of events is long, but there are still challenges for the Qatari, especially in regards to hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup:

Cooling: During the World Cup months of June and July the temperatures in Qatar range from 40-50 degree Celsius!!! Not even fans with a cool drink in their hands want to be in this heat for more than 2 hours. To fight that heat, the Qatari are working on air-cooling techniques which work in open spaces. These techniques should be a relief to all attendees, but I wonder what environmentalists say to that?!

Infrastructure: All organizing committees of mega events are facing the same challenges: supplying smooth infrastructure; in the case of the football world cup for approximately 400,000 foreign fans and officials. An advantage in Qatar though is, that fans could stay in the same hotel and still visit all nine stadiums easily. However most of the infrastructure, including stadiums, hotel and transportation still have to be build.

Culture: Let's face it - football and beer, beer and football - these two things just belong together! However, fans are fearing that they cannot consume alcohol in the way they are used to at other events. There will probably be special alcohol zones, where fans can drink and celebrate the games. Furthermore most fans will dress differently from the way Qataris dress, especially women. I wonder if the world will see fans like this alongside happily celebrating Qataris:


Despite these and more challenges, let's hope that Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary-general of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, is right in stating that the 2022 FIFA World Cup "will leave a legacy of understanding, and that people can unite through a shared love of football."

Tanja Voegtlin