Source: Global Times
【Global Times Special Correspondent Dong Ming】With less than one month to go before the opening of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, are FIFA and Qatar ready? For the first football World Cup to be held in the Middle East, tickets, infrastructure and epidemic prevention measures are all tests, and the organizers also need to seriously deal with external questions such as excessive consumption levels and excessive carbon emissions. In a video recently released on FIFA's official website, FIFA President Gianni Infantino fully affirmed Qatar's organizational work: "We have been saying that Qatar will host the best World Cup ever. Now you can look at the country, look at today's most advanced sports venues, training grounds, subways and other infrastructure, everything is ready to welcome everyone. ”
So far, 2.89 million tickets have been sold
Qatar will host 64 World Cup matches in 8 stadiums. The Associated Press said 2.89 million tickets for the Qatar World Cup have so far been sold, leaving 7 percent of the seats available. FIFA director Colin Smith said at a press conference that more tickets will be available before the official start of the tournament on November 20. Traditionally, World Cup tickets tend to be released one after another, as sponsors and FIFA stakeholders give up some of their tickets, put them on the market and sell them to fans.
The top three overseas sales are currently among buyers in the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, while Mexico is the largest corporate hospitality ticket market outside Qatar, with enthusiastic fans in countries such as Argentina, France, Brazil and Germany. In addition, the World Cup also set a record for hotel ticket sales packages, with 240,000 units sold so far, of which 63% were purchased by international tourists.
The 29-day World Cup in Qatar is expected to bring 1.2 million international visitors to the 11,000-square-kilometre Middle Eastern country, putting pressure on the organisers to receive additional accommodation. In addition to the 2 million already existing overnight accommodation facilities, Qatar will mobilize hotels, apartments, campsites and even cruise ships to supply an additional 30,000 rooms.
Qatar recently chartered a third 1,075-seat cruise ship to dock at Doha Port as a floating hotel, with a minimum cost of $470 per night during the World Cup. At the same time, the organizer also reminded all fans to apply for and bring "Hyyaka" to Qatar, which is not only a pass to enter Qatar, but also used when accessing the stadium on match days, and can use it to use Qatar's special public transport system for the World Cup for free.
For prevention, all visitors aged 6 and above must take a nucleic acid test within 48 hours before departure or have a negative rapid antigen test result taken within 24 hours prior to arrival, and the result must come from an official medical centre. It is reported that tourists aged 18 and above also need to download a close contact tracing app called "Ehteraz", all tourists must wear masks on public transportation, and positive people must undergo quarantine.
"Thank you Qatar for the thoughtful arrangements"
In addition to staying and watching the games, fans and visitors to Qatar can enjoy a wide range of entertainment. In Baida Park, the FIFA-sponsored Fan Festival welcomes 40,000 fans a day, with free broadcasts, football-related events and performances by world-renowned artists, allowing fans to watch matches and performances while enjoying local cuisine.
In addition, Sheraton Park, the Museum of Islamic Art will also host tours, and the Almaha Island theme park and beach music festival are also open to fans. There is also a water curtain fireworks show, a Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and a dance festival with a capacity of 10,000 or 20,000 people every day, catering to the different tastes of fans from all over the world.
FIFA executives consider Qatar to be very efficient: "Thanks to Qatar's careful planning, we operate 168 official websites, each of which is crucial to the success of this World Cup. "We tested eight stadiums, volunteer and certification centers are now fully operational, and some ticketing centers will be open," Smith said. "For the World Cup, volunteers are also an indispensable service force. According to organizers, a total of 420,000 people applied to volunteer this year, and only 20,000 were selected, of which 2,200 were from abroad.
In addition, another innovation of this World Cup is the consular service center built in the exhibition hall in the center of the West Bay, which is staffed by embassy staff from 45 countries during the competition to serve tourists and football-related people from all over the world. Although FIFA has affirmed the World Cup, Qatar's host has not been able to avoid various doubts from the outside world, the most prominent of which are the high cost, the treatment of workers and excessive carbon emissions.
"The bill has reached a dream level"
"Qatar's bills have reached a dream level to create the most expensive World Cup ever", AFP analysis said, adding that the World Cup venues cost $6.5 billion, and the driverless subway system to connect the venues cost up to $36 billion, while Qatar has invested $300 billion in infrastructure for the World Cup in the past 10 years. By comparison, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil cost just $11.5 billion, and the 2018 World Cup in Russia cost just $14 billion.
In addition, the outside world has questioned the low pay of infrastructure workers for the Qatar World Cup and the practice of providing air conditioning for all stadiums is "not environmentally friendly". Qatar countered that the accusations were unwarranted and that reforms over the past five years had helped hundreds of thousands of migrant workers in the country. Qatar World Cup Secretary-General Hassan Tawadi has said they will achieve zero emissions throughout the event by measuring, mitigating and offsetting greenhouse gas emissions.
However, environmental groups do not agree with the organizers' commitment to "carbon neutrality". According to Carbon Market Watch, Qatar's zero emissions statement is incorrect: Qatar's carbon emissions for stadiums should be 1.6 million tons, not the official 200,000 tons, and accurate statistics on carbon emissions caused by infrastructure, transportation and accommodation are needed, and the most concerned about stadium air conditioning impact is not large.
As for the huge spending of the World Cup, Daniel Raichet, a visiting professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, said: "This simple comparison is not fair, infrastructure spending is originally part of Qatar's 2030 development plan, just to invest in advance of the World Cup." ”