By: Gordon D’Costa
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar has already been described as the most successful edition ever in the history of this tournament. This quadrennial global event, hosted in the Arab world for the first time has drawn plenty of accolades and appreciation from the team managers, players, officials and fans from across the world.
The Qataris have done a wonderful job in all aspects. After they won the bid to host this mega football event in 2010, this tiny Arab nation has left no stone unturned to construct world class facilities and improve the infrastructure of the country.
Qatar worked towards building seven state-of-the-art stadiums for the World Cup finals. They also constructed a new airport, a high quality metro system, a series of well-knit roads and about 100 new hotels. An entire city has been constructed around the stadium which will host the final match.
These new developments in Doha have been some luxury for everyone as it ensured that it was not too taxing for the teams, the spectators and other stakeholders associated with the World Cup. Unlike the earlier editions of the World Cup, this time there was not too much travel as all the matches were played in one city.
However, FIFA, the sport’s world’s governing body, is thinking otherwise and it has been reported that it is not in favour of this tournament being hosted by a single nation.
FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani made this statement during an interview with a media organistion. “I don’t think you’ll see another World Cup held in one country again,” Montagliani said.
Montagliani pointed out that these were his thoughts and was quoted. “This is just me guessing, but I don’t. Not because one country can’t host it. The USA easily could. But the reality is that collaboration is always better. It cements ties with your neighbors politically and economically, and it’s easier to go to a government when they’re not carrying the whole load. It works on so many levels.”
Meanwhile, FIFA has already confirmed that the upcoming 2026 World Cup will be jointly hosted in collaboration between the USA, Mexico and Canada. Several countries have already shown interest in hosting the 2030 World Cup. According to media reports, the 2030 bids have come from several countries from Europe, South America, African and another Arab nation. Portugal, Spain and Ukraine want joint 2030 hosting, while Greece is also keen. From South America, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay want the rights to host the mega event, while Saudi Arabia is also bidding for the World Cup.
Qatar, the first Arab and Muslim nation to host the FIFA World Cup, faced plenty of criticism from different quarters. Human rights organizations questioned their treatment of migrant workers, women, and position on LGBT rights. The country’s intense climate and lack of a strong football culture were other reasons against Qatar hosting the World Cup. More importantly it was also cited that there was evidence of bribery for hosting rights and wider FIFA corruption.
Despite all these obstacles, the Qatar World Cup 2022 has delivered on all fronts and has seen the highest attendance of fans in the tournament’s history. A path-breaking 88,966 fans watched Argentina defeat Mexico 2-0 at the Lusail Stadium on 26 November, marking the highest such figure in FIFA’s history.
Adding to the success of being the first-ever World Cup held in the Arab world, Qatar received 2.45 million fans till date, an average of 96% occupancy.
These figures speak for themselves and provide enough evidence to silence all the doubters and prove them wrong.