Why is Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 The Costliest Ever?
The World Cup this year, which will start in November, will be the most costly in FIFA history, costing $220 billion, or about 20 times what Russia spent in 2018.
Since 2010, when Qatar won the right to bid on hosting the World Cup, the Gulf nation has been constructing monuments to handle the expected 1.5 million guests for the region's first-ever World Cup.
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According to recent reports, the new World Cup stadiums and infrastructure are partially to blame for the enormous cost rise.
On the other hand, the $4.3 billion in expenses for the 2006 World Cup in Germany seem relatively insignificant.
The cost of building stadiums ranged from $6.5 billion to $10 billion, and the majority of the remaining $220 billion was used as part of the Qatar 2030 National Plan, a larger initiative focused on building infrastructure, including an innovation center with hotels, an advanced metro system, and airports.
According to Fatma Al Nuaimi, the World Cup's executive director for communications, "the World Cup is a part of the Qatar National Vision 2030, a wider government strategy promoting the intensive development of urban and national facilities and industry, in addition to education and healthcare systems," she added. She emphasized that these three developments were all a part of Qatar's larger vision for life after the World Cup.
"The majority of these large-scale infrastructure projects, including new highways, a subway, an airport, hotels, and other tourism amenities, which will be used by teams and spectators in 2022, were planned even before we secured the right to host the World Cup."
It took a substantial amount of investment to create the country's infrastructure and transportation networks, the largest of which was the Doha Metro.
Approximately $36 billion was spent on the construction of the extensive underground transit system, which debuted in 2019. It is believed that it will be crucial for fans who want to move fast throughout the city during the tournament.
A bit earlier in 2008, the Qatar National Vision 2030 project was presented. Creating an "advanced civilization capable of sustaining its development and offering a high standard of living for its people" was its stated objective. One of the key foundations of this future would be sports.
Over the past ten years, Qatar has hosted more than 600 regional and international sporting tournaments; in particular, these events have aided the country's FIFA World Cup preparations. According to recent sources, stadiums and practice fields are prepared for the major tournament and are being tested with various events.
Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, stated this week at a panel in Geneva: "Many things have changed in Qatar because of the focus of football, as well."
Infantino emphasized the transforming power of football by saying, "Take Qatar, for instance, in terms of workers' rights and human rights. Things still need to change. But a process has begun, and compared to previously, people are considerably better now, he said.
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