Qatar and the 2022 World Cup – Reasons Why Its Stadiums Will Be Different
In this feature on soccer scoreboards, I will talk about how Qatar plans to avoid “white elephants” after the World Cup of 2022 is over.
Many countries have made this mistake. The 2004 Olympic Stadium in Athens. The ‘Bird’s Nest’ Olympic Stadium of 2008 in Beijing. The 2010 World Cup Stadiums scattered all over South Africa. Some of these stadiums were built from scratch and required multi-million dollar investments. What’s happened to all of them now? Nothing – and that’s the whole point. They are just standing there, going unused. Some of them host events very occasionally, but the costs of running them for small games are far greater than the revenue that comes from small crowds. Other stadiums have become mere tourist attractions.
Qatar is an even bigger candidate to have these problems after the 2022 World Cup takes place there. The population of the country is only 1.6 million, so this means that a 15,000-seat stadium can barely be filled, never mind the 80,000-seat “elephants” that are required to be built to host the World Cup. Hence, there is a lot of pressure on developers to build facilities that are more sustainable, not so expensive, and able to have other uses.
This is why Qatar is planning to take some serious action to avoid these problems in the future. More so, it is hoping that the stadiums left after the World Cup will help build and transform communities that lie outside Doha, its capital. The 12 venues that are projected to be built for the World Cup are expected to be transformed afterwards for other sports purposes like track and field, educational use, or even new residential development anchors. Some of the stadiums already have future plans as being converted into parks, hotels, and even spas.
Qatar is not as concerned about the financial aspect as about the stadiums going to waste. The stadiums are projected to have all sorts of features like sliding seats, which can be removed when the stadium is not full, and even a retractable field, which means it will be possible to use the stadium for non-sports activities. The underlying idea of Qatar’s stadiums is to make them multi-purpose. Soccer scoreboards are not the most important thing for Qatar.
The main benefit of hosting the World Cup for Qatar is that it will raise its profile in the international community. To get more out of this, the country will make several donations to participate in the larger soccer development program. It is planning to donate twelve 5,000-seat stadiums, eight 10,000-seat stadiums, and two 15,000-seat stadiums in order to contribute to soccer’s development and to help society.
