While I was attending many FIFA World Cup matches in Qatar 2022, I noticed the provision of many modern technological means, not only available to serve media professionals and journalists, but also to everyone, including the fans.
And we start from the moment of entering the match stadium, where there are electronic gates that count the number of fans entering to watch the match from the stands, while the attendance of media professionals, journalists and workers in the match is recorded by special devices that make sure that there is a permit to attend the match, and also records their entry and exit.
This explains the announcement of the number of fans in the stadium as it happened - yesterday, Saturday - where the main screen of Lusail Stadium (the largest stadium in the World Cup in Qatar) monitored that the Argentina-Mexico match was attended by 88,966 fans, which is a record in the World Cup that exceeded the crowd attendance for the Brazil-Serbia match, which was held Thursday. The past is on the same stadium in the presence of 88 thousand and 103 fans.
After entering the journalists and media professionals, there is a large hall designated for them in each stadium, which is equipped with everything they need, especially modern technological means of the regular Internet and Wi-Fi, and by scanning a barcode, you can connect to the network. You can also get the formation of the two teams and the data of the players.
Media hall at the World Cup stadiums in Qatar (Al-Jazeera)
All of the above features for media professionals are present in the stands and halls of the stadium as well, and are available to the masses who can now know all the statistics of the players through the application of real-time analysis that displays heat maps and statistics launched by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) also using artificial intelligence systems, after It was restricted to the technical equipment of the teams only.
Wi-Fi is available to all in all World Cup stadiums in Qatar (Al-Jazeera)
For the first time in the history of the World Cup, the FIFA+ app allows fans to see everything happening in the stadium and players' performances in real time.
FIFA commented on the technology that it “will revolutionize the interaction of fans with football, as it will enable its users to experience the excitement of the tournament in an unprecedented way through augmented reality technology, and display the latest statistics and heat maps of the movements of players and referees on the field, and all match data, and special shots from the stadium.” different angles."
The FIFA + application barcode in the stands of the World Cup stadiums (Al-Jazeera)
The technology in the stadiums impressed many fans who expressed this on social media, and their greatest fascination was with the high speed of the Internet in the stadiums, which was provided by the "fifth generation" (5G) technologies developed by the Local Organizing Committee in Qatar in all World Cup stadiums.
You can't see this on your mobile phone without a decent infrastructure in the stadium.
Without 5G or WiFi, there are no services that you will be able to receive in the stadium.
Now I need to call it Stadium as a Service pic.twitter.com/efDn8pT9cK
- Sayed Farouk (@SayedFarouk) November 22, 2022
Qatar also provides in the places designated for analysts - in all stadiums - two screens, one for regular photography and the other very distinct to provide 8 different angles for filming in the stadium.
One of the important things is that there is electronic monitoring of the exit of the fans and the media from the stadium within two hours after the match, in order to ensure that the stadium is empty before it is closed.
Everyone can download the formation of the two teams and everything related to the match through barcode services located in different areas of the Qatar World Cup stadiums (Al-Jazeera)