The tiny Gulf state of Qatar has proved its critics wrong, and quite emphatically. It has proved that it is more than capable of organizing major global events. After all, it hosted the world’s biggest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup, successfully, without a single glitch.
After witnessing setbacks owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2017–2021 embargo and facing heavy criticism of its human rights record in the Western media, Qatar had a lot to prove. But the country rose to the occasion and ended up organizing the event successfully, with everything running like well-oiled machinery.
Visitors and sports fans have praised Qatar for the excellent organization of public transportation, seamless visitor management in the stadiums, the safe and peaceful atmosphere, and so forth. As per FIFA, a cumulative attendance of over 2.45 million (96% occupancy) was reported in the first 48 matches — higher than the 2.17 million in the 2018 edition in Russia. FIFA earned a whopping $7.5 billion in revenue via commercial deals tied to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — $1 billion more than it earned in the 2018 edition.
The legacy will live on
The 2022 edition of the FIFA World Cup will be remembered for several reasons: It was hosted by a country that lies outside the traditional centres of the game, namely, Europe and South America; it included the most diverse round of 16 in the history of the event, with teams from all continents competing; it saw the first woman referee, Stephanie Frappart, preside over a FIFA World Cup match (group stage match between Costa Rica and Germany), and so forth.
The event was held so smoothly that even critics admitted Qatar had done a great job. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted about “an incredible World Cup so far” just before the England-versus-Senegal game while the French President and the US Secretary of State, too, had words of praise as they highlighted Qatar’s nationwide reforms prior to the FIFA World Cup 2022.
But for Qatar, this is not the end of it all; it is the beginning rather. The nation plans to carry forward the legacy of the event to pursue broader goals, such as enhancing its national reputation and cementing its place in the world as a country capable of hosting global visitors on a large scale. Even the purpose-built infrastructure, including the seven newly built stadiums, for the event accompanies legacy plans. The cargotecture-based Stadium 974 will be completely dismantled, its parts donated to nations as a gesture of goodwill, whereas Lusail and Al-Bayt Stadium will be repurposed into hybrid facilities with shops, hospitals, and hotels.
With such foresight and long-term vision, Qatar is positioning itself strongly as a destination for future sports events and as a nation that takes global integration seriously. To that end, it has started the beIN Sports global network of sports channels and sponsored soccer clubs (Bayern Munich via Qatar Airways). Besides, it owns the French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain via Qatar Sports Investment.
If anything, the FIFA World Cup 2022 is the harbinger of more such landmark events in Qatar. The nation is all set to leverage the goodwill earned from the event. It will host the Asian football championship in 2023 next, the table tennis world championship in 2025, and the Asian Games in 2030. Qatar has, well and truly, emerged out of the shadows and into the sporting spotlight.
