Chile Football Federation president Harold Mayne-Nicholls didn’t specify what the problems were at the end of the three-day visit, but said a World Cup these days has to handle hundreds of thousands of people.
He said Qatar does not currently have the necessary accommodations and transport links to meet those demands, though he acknowledged the organizers “have assured us they will change this.”
“From an organizational point of view, Qatar has the potential to host an international event like a FIFA World Cup,” Mayne-Nicholls said.
“But it would pose a number of logistical challenges. So far, we have had only one tournament of a similar concept with a minimum of traveling distance and that was the first tournament staged in 1930 in Uruguay. That easily worked out well 80 years ago but the scope of the event as we all know has changed dramatically.”
Qatar is the final stop for the six-member team on a tour of nine countries which are bidding to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups. FIFA’s 24-member executive committee will choose the winners and they will be announced on Dec. 2.
Most analysts consider the tiny Middle East nation of 1.6 million a longshot in a group of bidders containing the United States, Australia, South Korea and Japan, which all have hosted either a World Cup or an Olympics. It also faces concerns about the heat which can reach 50 Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), fears its conservative values will put the brakes on the party atmosphere, and questions over whether there is enough for visitors to do during the tournament which lasts for a month.
In his remarks, Mayne-Nicholls never mentioned the heat nor alcohol and his focus on the stadium plans came as a surprise since organizers saw that as one of their strengths. Calling their bid a “compact World Cup,” organizers have played up the fact that the stadiums can be reached within an hour of each other and that fans would be whisked to air conditioned venues in a flashy, new metro system. Fans, they said, could see as many as three matches in one day.
Qatar bid committee chief executive Hassan Al-Thawadi acknowledged the proposal faces challenges but insisted that the size of the country would not doom their bid. He vowed to find solutions to any problems identified by inspectors and that they would persevere with what he called a “new and innovative concept.”
“As with is normal with new ideas, there will be concerns about implementing them,” Al-Thawadi said. “We’ve seen the concerns and understand the concerns. There will be issues in terms of transportation of fans. We have looked at scheduling to resolve these issues. Every concern that may come from this new concept has been addressed by us, has been looked at us in great detail.”
Mayne-Nicholls’ comments were ironic given that the FIFA visit ended with a tour of the designs for the 12 stadiums that Qatar is planning to either build or upgrade. The flashy designs include one that would be built to look like an Arab fort, and another that pulsates and looks like a sea urchin.
The stadiums will cost $4 billion to build and include high-tech cooling systems that ensure temperatures on the pitch and in the stands remain below 27 C (81 F). All but one of the stadiums will have modular components allowing organizers to dismantle them afterward and donate some 170,000 seats to football programs in developing countries.
“The whole thing will be taken out and shared with the world,” said bid official Fatma Fakhro, as she showed reporters the 44,950-seat Doha Port stadium which will be completely removed after the tournament.
Organizers spent the last three days making the case that Qatar can host a fun, safe and, most importantly, a cool World Cup.
They also played up the fact that Qatar would be making history since the World Cup has never been held in the Middle East, and that Qatar — which has the second highest per capita income in the world — would back up its ambitious plans with plenty of money.
It certainly didn’t spare any expenses to promote the bid, even bringing out Zinedine Zidane as a “surprise” at the end of the inspection visit on Thursday. Zidane said he supported the bid because it would be good for the Middle East.
Qatar also showcased its plans to spend $42.9 billion on infrastructure projects to be completed by the World Cup, including a high-speed rail network with trains that can reach 350 kph (217 mph), a 50 million-passenger airport, as well as a city of 200,000 which will be home to some of the training facilities, accommodations and a tournament stadium.
The stadium designs — some of which were released publicly this year — have been praised for mixing traditional Arab culture and cutting edge technology. Organizers seem just as proud they are all environmentally friendly, would have flexible uses, and are sustainable.
Dan Meis, an American architect who has been involved in designing the stadiums, said the use of modular technology by Qatar was “groundbreaking” and would likely be seen more often in future bids.
“We’ve got to the point where the cost of building infrastructure to put on an event like this doesn’t make sense if there is no use for them beyond the event,” Meis said. “If we can design stadiums with modularity to it or flexibility in use afterward, it makes it much easier for any bidding country.”