World 2022: Qatar wants more than 1.2 million visitors
Workers on the lawn of the Al-Bayt stadium in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
3 min
While the last world rally around sport with the Tokyo Olympics took place behind closed doors, Qatar hopes to attract more than 1.2 million visitors during the next World Cup (November 21 to December 18, 2022), i.e. nearly half of the population of this Gulf emirate.
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According to Fatma al-Nuaimi, communications manager of the World Cup Organizing Committee, “
innovative and temporary
” solutions will be developed in addition to the hotels already available, in order to welcome the public.
Sixteen floating hotels
Visitors can thus be accommodated on cruise ships, in private homes or in supporters' villages, while sixteen
floating
hotels
with a total capacity of 1,600 rooms will be built.
If some supporters and commentators have already expressed their concern about the lack of entertainment planned in this conservative Muslim country and little associated with the festive spirit that accompanies the World Cups, as in previous editions, “
alcoholic drinks will be authorized in areas provided for this purpose
”.
The stadium which will host the final, the Lusail Stadium, is "
98.5% complete
", says the project manager in charge of the equipment.
The stadium, located 20 kilometers from the capital Doha, will be able to accommodate 85,000 to 86,000 spectators.
It is one of eight brand new stadiums built from scratch for this Qatari World Cup.
Will it be necessary to be vaccinated to attend the World Cup?
According to the Associated Press, Fifa has started discussions with organizers to remove mandatory vaccination requirements. However, last June, the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, announced that vaccination would be compulsory for all supporters.
Regularly condemned by international NGOs for the treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers from Africa and Asia on major construction sites for the World Cup, Qatar does not intend to be disturbed by critics during the tournament.
The Qatari authorities have regularly said they
"
always been transparent about the health and safety of workers
"
, while some newspapers evoke heavy human balances.
David Beckham, Ambassador of Qatar for 175 million euros
While several European teams including Germany and Norway have taken initiatives to show their support
for human rights
ahead of the World Cup qualifiers, British football star David Beckham has visibly failed. not cared about the problem.
The former Manchester United player will become the face of the future World Cup.
According to
The Sun
, the former English international signed a ten-year contract to "
promote culture and tourism in Qatar
".
Which should earn him 175 million euros.
The draw for the final phase of the 2022 World Cup will take place on March 31 in Doha on the occasion of the 72nd FIFA Congress.
Germany became, Monday, October 11, the first nation to qualify for the competition
via
qualifying, after Qatar, automatically qualified as host country.
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World Cup 2022
Soccer
Qatar