Why Qatar's 'best-ever' World Cup is a tough pledge to deliver
CBC
Ready or not, it's here.
From this Sunday until Dec. 18, the tiny Gulf state of Qatar is hosting the biggest sporting event in the world. With some fans camping in the desert and others spending much of their time hunting for cold beer under the blazing sun, this will be a World Cup like none before.
FIFA, soccer's governing body, has suggested this edition will be the "best ever." Human rights activists and many travelling soccer fans aren't so sure.
For starters, never has a men's World Cup been hosted by such a small country. All eight stadiums are within 55 kilometres of each other. That's roughly the length of the island of Montreal.
While organizers have promoted the tournament as being compact — requiring no long trips from one city to another — Qatar's size and lack of experience hosting such mega-events pose their own challenges.
"This is a truly unprecedented event," said Simon Chadwick, a professor of sport and geopolitical economy at SKEMA Business School in Paris. "It's a nation-building project for Qatar as much as it is anything else."
This country of only three million people is expecting to welcome at least 1.2 million visitors. The surge is sure to put more than 12 years of logistics and hospitality planning to the test.
Simply put, there won't be enough hotels. Foreign fans coming to the capital, Doha, have been encouraged to consider creative options.
The official Qatar 2022 accommodation agency promises "a range of exciting and unique" places to stay. They include makeshift rooms in glorified shipping containers presented as fan village "cabins" ($200 US a night) and tents in the desert outside Doha ($400 US a night).
That's not to mention the three massive cruise ships docked in the port, each acting as a floating hotel.
Organizers have even suggested fans consider staying in the nearby United Arab Emirates and taking the one-hour flight from Dubai to Doha on match days. Think of it like travelling to Detroit, then commuting for an event in Toronto.
A British protectorate until it gained independence in 1971, Qatar has sought the global spotlight in recent years. The country expedited major construction projects in the lead-up to the event, spending more than $200 billion US on infrastructure alone.
It has the money to spend. Qatar, an autocracy ruled by an emir, is one of the world's top exporters of natural gas.
The Doha metro, the city's Hamad International Airport and seven new stadiums have all opened since FIFA controversially awarded the World Cup to Qatar in 2010. The U.S. Justice Department said world soccer officials were bribed so Qatar would be awarded the event.
