Qatar 2022/ Road to World Cup .. Qatari Dream Started 12 Years Ago and Now is a Reality

Doha, November 19 (QNA) - On the evening of Dec. 2, 2010, Joseph Blatter, the former president of the International Football Association (FIFA), announced that the State of Qatar had won the honor of organizing the 2022 World Cup, in a scene that will not be forgotten of football fans in the Arab world and in the world. It is the first time that an Arab Middle Eastern country has succeeded in winning the honor of hosting this event. Since that night, the dream began, and after more than 4380 nights, the dream came true, when the Italian Daniele Orsato's whistle sounds tomorrow evening, announcing the start of the opening match of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. A dream was born 12 years ago, but when dreams are entrusted to Qatari hands and minds, trust that they will come true to the fullest and most wonderfully than the imagination itself. The journey of realizing the dream of hosting the World Cup finals was full of details and hard work, since the first day of Qatars announcement of its desire to host the World Cup, Qatar promised the world sophisticated stadiums where the most important football tournament matches would be held. Rather, the promise came with a challenge, which is that the stadiums will be at the highest level reached by stadium technology in the world and with the finest designs in building sports facilities.. Qatar believed in its promise.. It provided the world with 8 impressive stadiums with modern technology, eco-friendly and sustainable heritage. The establishment and development of the World Cup stadiums was accompanied by a revolution in the field of infrastructure modernization in every inch of the land of Qatar, sea and land ports, an airport that is the best in the world, electricity and communications, health and educational facilities, tourism and entertainment facilities and many more that surprise the visitor, and even the resident of Qatar. In the road sector, the world has been amazed by the amount of achievement of roads, bridges and tunnels that exceeds any imagination, and in record time, and in light of challenges that are the greatest of their kind. With every grain of sand transferred to an infrastructure project or World Cup equipment, Qatar emphasized in the first place that its projects conform to environmental specifications and be carbon-neutral and eco-friendly. The journey of the Qatari dream was not an easy thing. Without the culture of the people and their support for their goals, nothing would have been achieved. Building the human being is the optimal investment in which Qatar succeeded along with building the World Cup equipment and requirements. The Qatari sports fans did not depend on Qatar winning the honor of organizing the World Cup, rather, it was fueled for winning more Gulf, Asian and Arab titles. During the years of realizing the dream, Qatari football witnessed dreams that come true every year and titles are achieved and harvested on every occasion. When Qatar harnessed its financial capabilities to achieve the dream of the World Cup, it was aware from the first moment that what it will spend will bring success and brilliance, and it has confirmed throughout the years of preparation for the tournament that it will be an exceptional tournament in everything and has succeeded in that, according to everyone's testimony. Hours before the start of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Qatar is turning the page of preparation to open a page in the history with the main title "How the dream become a reality?". In the field of infrastructure, the State of Qatar, since it won the honor of hosting the World Cup, has turned into a huge workshop to implement new projects in this sector that serve the World Cup and be a legacy for future generations through a comprehensive vision that meets the standards of hosting major sporting events and at the same time achieves the goals of Qatar’s National Vision 2030. Over the past years, the State of Qatar has implemented infrastructure projects that included all vital sectors such as sports facilities, stadiums, roads, hotels, communications, transportation, health and other projects that will bear witness to the development achieved by Qatar in a short period of time. According to official data, Qatar has spent about USD 220 billion on infrastructure projects, an amount that does not include building stadiums and sports facilities for the World Cup only, but covers all infrastructure projects in the country, including roads, hotels, sports facilities, health facilities and other expenses that cover all sectors in the country. In previous statements by officials of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, as well as state officials, they confirmed that the World Cup in Qatar is more than just a sporting event, as hosting the tournament for the first time in the Middle East was a base for launching and accelerating giant projects, a large percentage of which are infrastructure projects. They are also projects that future generations will benefit from for decades, and not just projects that serve the World Cup only. The spending of the State of Qatar on infrastructure projects was carefully studied and described by many analysts and economists as a philosophy in the right direction, as all these infrastructure projects aim to bring about a qualitative leap in economic and tourism development in Qatar, and an element of attraction for foreign investment that contributes to support strengthening the national economy. Over the past years, Qatar has managed to build more than 100 new hotels within a luxury hotel chain, bringing the total number of rooms in the country to more than 30,000 hotel rooms. The metro network "Doha Metro" has been completed, which includes about 38 stations covering all important locations in the country. Qatar has accomplished pioneering infrastructure projects in the field of communications and digital transformation over the past years, making the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 the first edition of the World Cup to rely entirely on 5G technologies, while the speed of internet data downloads in stadiums will be among the fastest in the World Cup tournaments. The World Cup in Qatar will also be one of the first tournaments to use the best and latest digital technologies at all. In the State of Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup, many infrastructure projects were established in the health sector, which in recent years has attained advanced global centers thanks to modern facilities and medical technologies used, as the number of public hospitals in the State of Qatar reached 10, in addition to specialized medical centers, while the number of primary health centers reached 30 health centers distributed throughout the State of Qatar. Not far from the capital, Doha, Lusail City is the biggest witness to the infrastructure projects completed by Qatar. It is a completely new city and is considered one of the largest digital cities in the world. The city includes all vital facilities, in addition to hosting Lusail Stadium, where the World Cup final will be held. The State of Qatar has also developed, in its hosting of the World Cup, the city of Msheireb Downtown Doha, which is a fully digital city and bears witness to the strong achievements in the journey to host the World Cup, as the city includes thousands of housing units as well as commercial, recreational and vital facilities. Qatar also built the Pearl Island project, which are artificial islands and a city full of luxury of modern life. Qatar has recently opened several tourism, entertainment and residential projects, which are considered a large part of the infrastructure completed in the journey of hosting the World Cup, the first tournament in the Middle East, the Arab and the Islamic world. In the field of roads, and with the aim of promoting a healthy lifestyle, Ashghal has implemented 2,131 km of pedestrian and bicycle tracks in most of the local road and highway projects. These paths are connected to all stadiums hosting the World Cup, in addition to the construction of more than 16 bridges and five pedestrian tunnels. Traffic safety procedures and conditions are taken into consideration when designing these lanes; It is designed to make it safe when entering traffic junctions along the road. Pedestrian and bicycle tracks also connect between the stadiums hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and fan zones, as well as their residential areas, and tourist areas known as attractions. These routes also connect to bus stations, metro stations, parking, (Park & Ride), and (Park & Walk). In cooperation with the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and other concerned authorities in the country, Ashghal has completed car parks on a total area of more than 6 million square meters, and has completed the total work of the Bus depots in Lusail area project, which comes within the state’s plan to develop the transportation sector. The Lusail bus depot provides parking for nearly 478 electric buses serving the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 matches. The Supervisory Committee for Beautification of Roads and Public Places in the country is improving the features of the city of Doha through the development and expansion of some roads and the development of many intersections, which in turn contribute to enhancing irrigated safety and achieving the required flow on the road network during the tournament and after the tournament. It includes 900,000 trees and more than 11 million square meters of green space, in addition to 11 parks and a multi-use green yard, as well as the development of 12 beaches in various regions of the country. In the highway sector, the authority was able to implement 1,791 km of roads, including 207 bridges and 143 tunnels, the most important of which are Al Majd Road with a length of 195 km and the Sabah Al-Ahmad Corridor with a length of 29 km due to their role in linking many roads serving the World Cup stadiums. To ensure the highest quality standards are provided on these roads, the Public Works Authority has formed an integrated team to survey, study and test all road assets around the stadiums hosting the event to ensure the quality of road elements such as asphalt conditions, road signs, safety barriers, sanitation assets, street lighting and pedestrian crossing paths. and traffic lights, to ensure they are ready for use during the tournament. Ashghal has been keen to use new technologies in some highway projects, called the "balanced cantilever method", for the first time in Qatar to build high-level intersections, including building concrete parts on the site without any interruption to the flow of traffic or wasting time for other activities around it. In a related context, the authority adopts the latest technologies to ensure the highest quality standards in road projects, including surveying technology, which has been developed as one of the best sustainable solutions for road operation and maintenance, to ensure the condition of the road, its compliance with standard specifications and its readiness to serve users, in addition to examining the asphalt layer and discovering its defects. Ashghal has also implemented a three-dimensional radar system (3D GPR) to inspect roads, scan asphalt, and examine the lower layers of roads, bridges, and the sewage network, where the radar beams penetrate the surface layers of asphalt to reach the lower layers in order to identify any shortcomings or gaps in the foundations before they appear on the surface. Concerning the environment, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is the first carbon-neutral World Cup in history, as the State of Qatar has worked to establish global standards in the field of environmental conservation, thus forming a role model in major global tournaments. The issue of the environment remained at the forefront of the State of Qatar’s concerns during its hosting of the World Cup. Since it began implementing the facilities and activities related to the tournament, it has been keen to build a sustainable environmental legacy that will benefit future generations, through the strategy of organizing the first carbon-neutral World Cup in line with international efforts calling to confront climate change. Qatar has succeeded in building sustainable stadiums, including design, construction, energy and water use, as well as installing stations to measure air quality, gas emissions and dust in all World Cup stadiums, in addition to organizing a mechanism for sorting waste during the stadium construction phase, to reduce the carbon footprint, and to recycle about 80% of the waste generated from the construction of the World Cup stadiums. Throughout its preparations to organize the world's most prominent sporting event, Qatar has succeeded in implementing many effective programs and plans to reduce carbon emissions that are harmful to health and the climate, by conserving water, managing waste and carbon emissions, using renewable energy as much as possible, protecting the environment, and linking urban areas. Qatar’s imprint in preserving the environment during the World Cup preparations journey is more evident in the transportation sector, as 25 percent of public buses have been replaced with electric buses for use during the tournament, which is an unprecedented record and historical achievement, and last April, the Ministry of Transport received the last batch of buses. There are 130 electric buses, to complete the supply of all electric buses, with 741 electric buses to be used during the tournament. Later on, the buses will become a permanent legacy for mass transportation of clean energy after the World Cup. In the same context, the Lusail bus depot, which was inaugurated last October, is the largest electric bus depot in the world, with a capacity of 478 buses, and comes within the public transport bus infrastructure program. The journey of building the eight stadiums for the championship and its commitment to the standards of reducing carbon emissions, reducing energy and water consumption, reusing water and materials and recycling, reflect the awareness of the competent authorities of the importance of confronting climate change and limiting its effects. The Qatari efforts in the World Cup journey are in line with the trends of sustainability and the desire to achieve balanced and sustainable growth. Some World Cup facilities were designed temporarily, and some of them can even be dismantled, such as Stadium 974, which was built from shipping containers and detachable materials including walls, ceiling and seats, as well as the use of high cooling systems which are eco-friendly in all stadiums, innovative lighting technologies that meet the requirements of sustainability. In conjunction with the rapid changes on the environmental level, Qatar has taken good qualitative steps, as it has practically opened Al-Kharsaah solar power plant project, which meets about 10 percent of the demand for electric energy, and its national plans include hundreds of initiatives to reduce emissions or adapt to the effects of climate change, in addition to the obvious progress in the field of renewable energy, as well as plans to expand the field of waste-to-energy. Qatar is proceeding with the will and determination to achieve the goals of the Qatar National Environment and Climate Change Strategy, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from all sectors by 2030, a plan that is practically in line with the efforts and programs of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology that seek to gradually shift the use of electric transportation and renewable energy in particular in the transportation sector. Over the past 12 years, with a weekly spending rate of USD 500 million, the State of Qatar paved the way for the World Cup and provided it with all the reasons for success in terms of equipment, sports construction, infrastructure and logistics associated with it. Reports published by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) on its official website indicate that the cost of constructing the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums and training pitches amounted to QR 23 billion, spread over twelve years. This budget is similar to the budgets of the last editions of the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games. It is worth noting that the SC does not finance most national projects for infrastructure development. For example, the two projects to expand the road network and the comprehensive metro network in the country are part of Qatar National Vision 2030, which is implemented far from hosting the 2022 World Cup. In a related context, the expenditures that Qatar injected to build an infrastructure capable of absorbing the momentum that the World Cup will create in the joints of the national economy amounted to about USD 200 billion over the past period to establish a non-football infrastructure such as the construction of a new metro network in the capital, Doha. Analysts confirm that due to the nature of the tournament, which is characterized by close distances, Qatar has turned into an Olympic city, and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy has implemented a number of ideas to ensure that fans traveling to Qatar have access to a variety of distinguished accommodation options in 2022, including three-to five-star class hotel rooms, cruise ships, and desert camps. With the reception of fans numbering more than one million people, the organizers provided all possibilities, as the number of rooms available for fans coming to Qatar to attend the "World Cup 2022" reached 130,000 rooms, and the country is expected to receive more than one million fans during the tournament, whose competitions will continue over 28 days. It has also been equipped with two cruise ships, with a capacity of about 4,000 rooms, while one of the largest hotel companies in Europe will provide 10,000 employees to manage and operate more than one million nights of accommodation in 60,000 apartments and villas during the tournament competitions. Reports also indicate that effective management and good marketing of Qatari brands will contribute to creating long-term commercial value, in addition to its role in driving GDP growth for more than 25 years. In this direction, despite the pessimistic outlook of the global economy, the Qatari economy is doing well according to the testimony of the International Monetary Fund, as it recently expected Qatar's economic growth rate to reach 4.9 percent, supported and driven by many fundamental factors, foremost of which is the continuous rise in gas prices, and the country's hosting of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. On the other hand, it is expected that the economic returns that the State of Qatar will obtain from organizing the World Cup will amount to about USD 17 billion, as the direct financial revenues from organizing the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 are estimated (at USD 2.2 billion), while the long-term economic returns are estimated during the period from 2022 to 2035 is worth (USD 2.7 billion), amid expectations of an increase in tourism revenues, which are expected to thrive during the World Cup and beyond. On the cultural front, Doha soon celebrated its Arab presence in 2010 as the Arab Capital of Culture, but the year did not pass until it was announced on Dec. 2 of the same year that Qatar won the hosting of the 2022 World Cup, changing the map of culture in Qatar on all levels to be a cultural metropolis that accompanies Doha as the capital of world sports. At the level of cultural infrastructure, over the past twelve years, Qatar has been interested in building a unique cultural system that keeps pace with the age of technology, while at the same time emphasizing sustainability as an approach and vision for the state in all institutions. It has established many museums; The most important of them is the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, Msheireb Downtown Doha with its four museums and its creativity and design centers. It has also developed and renovated the Qatar National Museum, and the Museum of Islamic Art, as well as preserving the country's archaeological landmarks, taking care of them and restoring them, and even registering the most important of them on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization "UNESCO" such as Al Zubarah site. The old Souq Al-Wakra was also renovated, confirming the country's pride in its cultural heritage, which it sought to register some of it on the World Heritage List, the most important of which is the falconry heritage with the participation of several Arab countries, as well as coffee and Arab majles. Qatar National Library was officially opened in April 2018, which is a beacon of human creativity, a group of luxurious theaters, as well as leading media institutions, and the continuous development of the facilities of the Cultural Village Foundation Katara. In the context of strengthening the cultural structure as well, many specialized cultural institutions and centers were established, most notably Qatar Music Academy in 2011, the Visual Arts Center, the Qatar Poetry Center "Diwan Al Arab", the Theater Affairs Center, the Music Affairs Center, the Nomas Center, and others so that this system constitutes a conducive environment for creativity in Qatar. At the level of cultural interaction internationally, the State of Qatar has been present at the cultural level globally by hosting many major events, most notably hosting the 38th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in 2014, hosting Doha as the capital of youth in the Islamic world in 2019, or hosting Doha as the capital of culture in the Islamic world in 2021. In 2020, the construction works of the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, the fourth World Cup stadium to be ready, were also completed, which was built on the site of the old Al Rayyan Stadium, where the construction works began in early October 2014 and continued for six years, to be opened on December 18, 2020, with the Al Sadd match vs Al Arabi in the final of the Amir Cup. Al Bayt Stadium, located in the city of Al Khor, was the fifth World Cup stadium to be ready, with its construction taking about five years as well, starting in 2015, and despite the completion of all work at the beginning of the year 2021, it was officially opened in the UAE-Bahrain match November 30, during the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021. Next was Al Thumama Stadium, whose preparatory works and preliminary excavation work began in 2016, with all works being completed after nearly 5 years and officially opening its gates on October 22, 2021, in the final of the Amir Cup in the match between Al Sadd and Al Rayyan. Construction work began on Stadium 974, the 7th World Cup stadium, ready by the end of 2017, as its construction operations took nearly four years, as it was officially opened on November 30 during the UAE-Syria match in the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021. Finally, Lusail Stadium, which will host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 final, was the eighth and last World Cup stadium to be ready, with construction work beginning mid-April 2017, lasting about five years, and inaugurated on September 9, 2022, in the Lusail Super Cup tournament between Al Hilal Saudi FC and Egyptian Zamalek. On the sports front, since the announcement of Qatar winning the bid to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Qatari football opened the page of a new chapter in its history to bring Qatari football to a world stage level to compete with its counterparts from around the globe. Qatari football began a new phase of advancement and development through a comprehensive development plan for preparing the first team to participate in the historic global event. In caring for talents, refining them and preparing them to provide the Qatari teams at all stages of life with distinguished talented players who constitute the nucleus and source of supply for the first team, which is now representing Qatar in the World Cup that is being held on its land and among its fans. The comprehensive development plan for Qatari football, whether at the level of the age groups or the first team, has succeeded in attaining many achievements, the most prominent of which was the arrival of that golden generation, which was prepared by the Aspire Academy, led by Spanish coach Felix Sanchez, to win the AFC U-19 Youth Championship for the first time in 2014. And achieving the achievement of qualifying for the 2015 World Youth Cup, and then thanks to the most prominent players of this generation, comrades Akram Afif, who won the award for the best player in Asia 2019, and AlMoez Ali, who was then crowned with the titles of best player and top scorer in the 2019 Asian Cup. The year 2019 won the AFC Asian Cup title for the first time in the history of Qatari football, and before that, many successes were achieved on a regional level, such as the first team’s victory in the 2014 West Asian Football Federation Championship and the 2014 Arabian Gulf Cup. The plan to develop and prepare the first team, which began in 2017 by merging elements of youth with elements of experience from the distinguished players led by Sanchez, witnessed several stages after that, as the stage of winning the 2019 Asian Cup followed, and the plan to develop the first Qatari team to prepare it for the 2022 World Cup included an exceptional presence. The national team has participated in many international tournaments in its new capacity as the champion of the continent of Asia, starting with its historic participation in the "Copa America" for the Latin American continent 2019 in Brazil, and the developed Qatari national team played against Paraguay, Colombia, and Argentina, and it was a distinguished participation and a successful development experience. This was followed by participation in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, during which Qatar managed to reach the semi-finals, after drawing with Panama and defeating Granada and Honduras, leading its group, then defeating El Salvador in the quarterfinals, before losing with difficulty 0-1 from America in the golden square of the tournament. The national team continued its preparations, through various stages, including the first historical participation in the European qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in a legal capacity without counting the results, and the Asian champion participated in a group that included Portugal, Serbia, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Azerbaijan. Qatar beat Luxembourg and Azerbaijan and drew with Ireland, lost to the Serbian and Portuguese teams, lost to Ireland (away), and came out with many benefits. After that, Qatar played in the Arab Cup on its land and among its fans, as one of the candidates for the title, it topped its group by defeating Bahrain 1-0, Oman 2-1, and Iraq 3-0, and in the quarter-finals Qatar defeated the UAE 5-0, to reach the semi-finals and lost 1-2 to Algeria. Qatar won third place at the expense of the Egyptian national team, by penalty kicks 5/4, after a 0-0 tie. From June until November, the Qatari national team continued its preparation stage through preparatory camps in Europe, Spain, and Austria, at various times, during which it played several friendly matches to find out the technical level of the national team. (QNA)