"Qatar open to winter World Cup in 2022"

From Yahoo! Sports

Review by Timothy Allen in SRM 334 (section 3)

Hayden Dyer and I selected the Qatar bid for the 2022 world cup as our current event presentation for many reasons. Both of us are interested in the sport, and we found it unique that a country such as Qatar would be able to host one of the biggest events in the world of sport.

Qatar is a small country in the Middle East, bordered only by Saudi Arabia (although in close proximity of Bahrain and United Arab Emirates). The economy of Qatar is essentially run by oil, and many surrounding countries have had much prosperity because of this product. The city of Dubai in UAE has expanded to one of the largest cities in the world, and is growing exponentially. Some of the projects that are happening there are remarkable and they have high hopes that they will be one of the most visited cities in the world in the next few years.

Qatar itself has made a lot of promises up to this point. They have planned on building 8 (almost brand new) stadiums to attract attention and a World Cup bid. These stadiums offer built in air conditioning to keep players and fans cool in the 100+ degree conditions during the summer. This will be the most expensive World Cup in history by a long shot. The selection process for Qatar to get this world cup was a long and arduous one; they had to produce a bid evaluation report which covers hotel accommodations to transportation for players and fans. The struggle to get this attention was hard as well, 2002 was the first time a world cup wasn’t held in the Americas or Europe, and 2010 was the first time the world cup was held in Africa. FIFA President Sepp Blatter said it was his goal to bring the World Cup to countries that would never have a chance to see it years ago, but that leaves a lot of pressure for these countries to prepare for it.

Although Qatar is a safe country itself, it’s hard to ignore the safety concerns in hosting such a large event in the Middle East, and being a Muslim country there is still much hostility towards other nationalities and religions. For example, Qatar is a dry country, meaning alcohol is forbidden and against the law to possess, but for the World Cup, alcohol will be permitted and there will be designated alcohol zones where it can be purchased and consumed. Another difficulty in Qatar’s bid was Israel, although they aren’t a powerhouse in the sport, there is a strong possibility they will be included in the tournament, and although Qatar doesn’t recognize Israel as a country, they will still be able to compete.

Overall, Qatar is drawn out to be a success on paper. They have a lot of time to prepare for the tournament and unlike South Africa they plan on being done with stadium renovations years before the tournament will take place. There is a lot that can go wrong in the next 10 years, but with careful preparation I can see this World Cup being a success for the Middle East’s exposure and for other hopeful countries to come.

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Review by Hayden Dyer in SRM 334 (section 3)

For our current event presentation, we decided on the topic of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and the controversies, bid campaign, and media involvement that come along with it. Qatar was selected to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, in a bid campaign that also included countries such as, USA, Japan, and Australian, to name a few. One of the major controversies surrounding FIFA’s choice to pick Qatar was how hot it gets during the summers. Temperatures can reach up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit, making medical personnel worried about the player’s safety of playing in these temperatures. One suggestion was to schedule the event during Qatar’s winter months, where the temperature would be much lower. Many people wondered knowing that it would be so hot why would FIFA choose Qatar to host such a big event. It all starts with the bid campaign where the country proposes to FIFA on why they should host the World Cup. Using media such as websites and videos, Qatar began to spread the word to gain supporters for their proposal. They aired videos showing how not only their country, but also the world would come together and enjoy such an event. They also put out videos of architectural designs of what the stadiums would look like, if they were chosen, and to silence critics about it being too hot, they said that each stadium would have an air conditioning unit that would make the stadium about 30 degrees cooler than it was outside. Seeing these proposals FIFA chose Qatar to be in the final voting with USA, who Qatar beat to host this event. Using media such as websites, and airing commercials to get their name out there Qatar grabbed the attention of many people, and impressed the FIFA committee with their state of the art facility plans, enough so to host an event as big as the FIFA World Cup.