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Qatar to host 2022 World Cup 2, December 2010

Posted by thegulfblog.com in Qatar.
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In a truly stunning announcement, football’s governing body FIFA, chose Qatar as the host of the 2022 World Cup.

While Qatar ran an excellent campaign, many assumed that there were simply too many hurdles for their bid to overcome: the staggering summer heat, the lack of a footballing heritage, the lack of a suitable transport infrastructure, the overwhelming lack of stadiums and hotels not to mention what was undoubtedly one of the worst FIFA technical reports. Yet they prevailed and will host the Arab world’s first World Cup.

This is a truly mammoth task that they have set for themselves. Doha will be a building site, or rather more of a building site, for the next decade. Not only this but somehow their football team must improve significantly if they are not going to be massively embarrassed in their own tournament.

Clearly, FIFA decided that they wanted the World Cup to go to new areas of the world, to attract new supporters and to embed football yet further outwith traditional arenas. Yet with Qatar, FIFA have also decided that they want a different type of World Cup. Qatar will have to promote much more of a family friendly atmosphere in lieu of providing huge open air areas for celebration and drinking as proved so successful in Germany 2006.

With both World Cup announcements (Russia were awarded the 2018 World Cup) FIFA have taken a risk in terms of infrastructure. Yet both Qatar and Russia come with the greatest oil and gas backed financial might; no matter what happens in their tournaments, FIFA can thus be guaranteed their return.

Aside from challenges facing Qatar tied to the bid, Qataris need to prepare themselves for a whole new level of international scrutiny: they will need to grow a thick skin. The lack of democracy, the role of women, their treatment of workers and their social restrictions will all come under close examination. What will happen when thousands of drunk supporters descend on Doha after a game is one of the big mysteries of Qatar’s World Cup. Their current method of dealing with this – often a night in the cells for public drunkenness – will need to be looked at.

Yet there are many years to critically look at Qatar’s bid. For the moment, we should all join in, offer our congratulations, and wish them the best of luck.