by Euan Megson
In just more than a fortnight’s time, Qatar will make football history by officially submitting a bid for the 2022 World Cup.
On May 14, a cache of young, eloquent and confident Qataris will present the Gulf peninsula’s official bid book, the Middle East’s first attempt at securing the tournament, to the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, in Zurich.
A vote in December will decide the respective 2018 and 2022 World Cups hosts, but the submission slots seem certain to stoke an already escalating ante.
Eleven countries, representing nine bids, will trumpet their credentials. All but two, South Korea and Qatar, are eager to stage either tournament.
A Qatari tournament in the summer of 2022, having been derided as too hot for an outdoor June-July showpiece, can no longer be dismissed. The fundamental concepts of its bid, according to Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, the chairman of Qatar 2022, are accessibility and environmental responsibility.
“What we are presenting in relative terms is a micro-organised, compact World Cup format,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “People said: ‘Is Qatar big enough? Is Qatar too hot?’ So we addressed the concerns and solved them.”
The solutions, 12 futuristic stadiums and an ultra-modern public transport system with a four-line metro rail link, a new international airport and a 45 kilometre causeway linking Qatar and Bahrain, evoke revolution and evolution in equal measures.
“Our World Cup stadia will be connected to a public metro network system,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “In terms of accessibility, every stadium is within an hour of each other. Fans can access several matches a day should they choose to.”
Sheikh Mohammed predicted that between 70 and 80 per cent of all World Cup fans, or 35,000 passengers every three hours, could be accommodated on the metro, which is due to be completed in 2021.
Fifa’s vote will determine the final expenditure of the US$4billion (Dh14.6bn) infrastructure, construction and refurbishment project, which is budgeted under the Qatar National Vision 2030 programme,
Three new, 45,000-plus capacity venues, all of which will be built even if Qatar’s bid is unsuccessful, were revealed yesterday. Each stadium pays homage to a particular side of Qatar’s national culture: a seashell motif inspires Al Khor, a dhow theme dominates Al Shamal, which Al Wakrah honours traditional Arabic design.
Plans to improve existing facilities at Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa are equally impressive. A floor-to-roof “media membrane” will wrap around the outer walls of the former, showing images and statistics to capture fans’ attentions, while a “ribbon of friendship” will give the latter a multi-colour facade.
The real inspiration, however, lies within the stadia. Modular upper tiers will be removed post- tournament and sent, free of charge, to developing countries.
“The stadia capacities of 45,000 exceed our requirements for local league and sports events, even regional events,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “We will end up with approximately 170,000 seats that make up the modular upper tiers.”
Handing the re-configurable seating formats to 22 countries is designed to create a “lasting Fifa football legacy”. The real legacy, however, could be Qatar’s answer to the heat debate.
Contrary to rumour, there are no indoor stadiums. “That is false. It is an open air World Cup experience,” Sheikh Mohammed said, before pointing to the complex system of solar panels and water temperature converters that will yield optimum playing surface conditions of 27-28°C.
“Weather will no longer inhibit any nation from hosting a World Cup,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “Our cooling system is a world-first and it is carbon-neutral. We are implementing zero carbon cooling technologies in all of our stadia.”
For all its pros, Qatar’s bid faces tough competition. Fifa’s penchant for continental rotation brings Africa’s maiden World Cup foray this summer, with perennial champions Brazil hosting the 2014 tournament, and a return to Europe expected in 2018.
A North American, Asian or Oceanic odyssey four years later is possible. Of Qatar’s rivals, Australia has never hosted a World Cup before and the Americans are powerful dark horses.
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