On the 16th, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that China is an important part of the development of world football and looks forward to the Chinese team qualifying for the next World Cup.
It is true that the Chinese men's football team did not stand out in the Asian qualifiers this World Cup, but it is easy to see the Chinese element in Qatar.
Stadiums full of science and technology and environmental protection concepts, a variety of goods in the market, or fan villages for fans to party, etc., can all see China's great contribution to the Qatar World Cup.
At the same time, the Chinese referee team Ma Ning, Cao Yi, Shi Xiang, as well as Chinese giant pandas "Jingjing" and "Four Seas", have arrived in Qatar to participate in this grand football feast.
Chinese giant pandas incarnate "stars" visit Qatar
When it comes to Chinese elements, giant pandas are undoubtedly star-level existences. On October 19, giant pandas "Beijing" and "Four Seas" arrived in Doha, the capital of Qatar, by special plane and started the World Cup "business trip".
According to the giant panda conservation research cooperation agreement reached between China and Qatar, the two giant pandas will live in Qatar for the next 15 years, which is the first pair of giant pandas welcomed in the Middle East.
It is worth noting that the news of the arrival of "Jingjing" and "Four Seas" soon spread throughout Qatar, and many locals said that they had known about it for a long time!
In addition, Qatar has given two Arabic names to "Jingjing" and "Four Seas", namely "Suhair" and "Soraya", representing two stars in the sky, indicating auspicious, sublime and infinitely valuable.
Mohammed Gully, director of the parks department of the Qatar Municipal Ministry, previously said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that the Qatari staff will work with Chinese counterparts to carry out research cooperation on the protection of giant pandas in desert climates.
According to reports, China sent a number of expert delegations to Qatar to conduct on-site guidance and assessment of the venues, and assisted Qatar in setting up a professional giant panda breeding and management team to ensure that the supply of bamboo is foolproof.
China manufactures the main World Cup infrastructure
Another thing that everyone talks about is the local "Made in China" in Qatar. The most impressive thing has to be the Lusail Stadium, which will host important events and events such as the World Cup semi-finals, finals and closing ceremonies.
Dubbed the "desert oasis", the course is located in the new city of Lucer, 20 kilometers from the center of Doha, Qatar, and is built by CRCC International Group. The venue is the largest span and the largest cantilevered roof single building of the same type in the world.
Under the coordination of China Railway Construction Group, the stadium was completed by 110 Chinese and foreign enterprises and more than 4,600 builders in more than 2,000 days, covering an area of about 195,000 square meters and accommodating 90,000 spectators.
As early as December 2020, the Lusail Stadium was printed on the 10 riyal note on the fifth set of banknotes issued by the Central Bank of Qatar, which shows the importance of the project.
Huang Taorui, deputy manager of the Lusail Stadium project of China Railway Construction, said that the Lussell Stadium can be on Qatar's banknotes, first of all, because this venue is of great significance to Qatar, the project is also known as the "Zero Project", and the Qatari side attaches great importance to it.
Qatar World Cup ambassador and star Al Habsi once praised, "The Lusail Stadium was built to the highest standards, it is the pride of the people of Qatar, the Middle East and the Arab region!" ”
In addition, the "974 Football Stadium" participated in the construction of the container Yangzhou base under CIMC will also host a number of World Cup football events.
As the name suggests, the stadium was designed by the Spanish architecture studio and built by the Chinese company just 974 containers and is characterized by being disassembled, movable and reusable. It is also the first fully removable stadium in the history of the FIFA World Cup. Coincidentally, 974 is also the international dialing code for Qatar.
A relevant person from CIMC Group once revealed in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that in the selected site, the frame of the entire stadium was first made with a steel structure, and then the container module was assembled to the corresponding position like building blocks, and then painted and decorated, and a modern stadium was built. "Strictly speaking, we are not 'building', we are 'building' this stadium."
In addition to this, another feature of the stadium is that it allows natural winds to circulate inside the stadium, so there is no need for an air conditioning system in Qatar's 2, 30-degree winter weather, which can save a lot of energy costs.
Located on the waterfront area southeast of Doha, Qatar's capital, Stadium 974 covers an area of 450,000 square meters and can accommodate 40,000 people, including toilets, waiting rooms, changing rooms and a food court.
Containers power the World Cup, not just on the pitch. China also participated in the construction of the "Free Zone Fan Village", the largest fan village in Doha during the World Cup. The fan village consists of 6,000 simple container houses, each accommodating two people and hosting up to 12,000 fans at the same time.
According to CCTV news reports, containerized houses are all made in China, and the panels are mainly from Guangdong and Zhejiang. After the materials are transported to the cartel, two or three experienced installers can install a house of about 16 square meters in 4 hours.
"The quality of these containerized houses is very good, the rooms are fully equipped with separate bathrooms, air conditioning and fans. ”
The fan village has also attracted a lot of attention from foreign media. The British "Daily Star" reported that the room has two single beds, which are in quite comfortable condition, each room has a separate toilet and tea making facilities, as well as a mini fridge.
Outside these container houses, there is a huge electronic screen for fans to watch the game, and at present, all kinds of lazy sofas are already in place.
Peripheral goods, "Made in Yiwu" won 70%
The World Cup is approaching, and various World Cup peripheral products can often be seen in the photos taken by domestic and foreign journalists in Qatar. More than half of these goods come from Yiwu, the "world supermarket".
According to the estimates of the Yiwu Sporting Goods Association, from the banner of the Qatar World Cup Top 32 to the ornaments and pillows of the Hercules Cup, "Made in Yiwu" has accounted for nearly 70% of the market share of the entire World Cup peripheral goods.
Last month, a topic of "Yiwu rushed to work 100,000 footballs in 50 days" went viral on social media, telling the story of Yiwu World Cup peripheral product manufacturers providing souvenir football to Qatari officials.
Wu Xiaoming, the operator, said in an interview with CCTV News that the orders from Qatar for this World Cup were not as early as in previous editions, but they still started from the preparation of materials and rushed to produce 100,000 World Cup souvenir football in more than 50 days.
In addition, Wen Congjian, a souvenir jersey operator, has also received orders for more than 2 million jerseys from foreign traders around the world since April.
In the sprint phase of the past month, the shopkeepers of Yiwu International Trade City have been busy using their mobile phones to communicate with foreign customers and domestic material suppliers about production matters, and are in full swing to make final preparations for the upcoming world football feast.
In September this year, Yiwu also opened a "World Cup special line", all goods can depart from Ningbo Port and Shanghai Port, only 20 to 25 days, can directly reach Qatar's Hamad Port.
With the World Cup matches unfolding one after another, fans holding "Made in Yiwu" souvenirs in front of the TV cameras are bound to cheer for the supported teams.
The Chinese referee team enforces the World Cup
As early as May this year, Chinese referees Ma Ning, Cao Yi and Shi Xiang have been included in the list of referees for the 2022 Qatar World Cup by FIFA.
At present, the three have arrived in Qatar to make final preparations before the match. In this event, Ma Ning will appear as the referee, while Cao Yi and Shi Xiang will serve as assistant referees.
Shi Xiang (far right), Ma Ning (middle), Cao Yi in training
It is worth noting that the three times are also the most involved in the World Cup enforcement in the history of Chinese football. In the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, Lu Jun was the referee of the group stage against Mexico against Croatia and Poland against the United States.
In recent years, the status of the Chinese referee team in FIFA has been significantly improved, in addition to the above three, Fu Ming has also acted as a video assistant referee to enforce various international competitions on many occasions. Including the 18-year AFC Champions League, the '19 Asian Cup and this year's Asian Preliminary Round, there are Chinese referees who enforce the law in different positions.
Colina, the president of the FIFA referee and former famous referee, said: "The standard we use is level first, and the referees we choose represent the highest level of refereeing in the world. "It is not difficult to see from this that the strength of China's referee groups is gradually gaining trust in international football.
In addition to the above mentioned Chinese elements, Chinese LED screens, Chinese cars, Chinese sponsors, etc., have reached cooperation with Qatari officials. The all-round cooperation also confirms FIFA's statement by Infantino that China is an important part of the development of world football. I also hope that the Chinese men's football team can join this big group as soon as possible.
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.