From November 20 to December 18, 2022, the Football World Cup will be held in Qatar. This is the first time in history that the competition has been hosted by a Middle Eastern country. Find out more about the stakes involved in this sporting event, which is followed the world over...
Qatar 2022, a world first
Qatar, an emirate located in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula, has enjoyed strong economic growth since the 1980s, thanks in particular to its raw material resources such as oil and gas. Today, Qatar is one of the countries with the highest GDP per capita in the world. To build up its international influence and gain diplomatic recognition, Qatar has been investing heavily in the world of sport for several years, notably with the purchase of PSG (Paris Saint Germain).
The small emirate was awarded the World Cup in 2010, becoming the first Middle Eastern country to host this global sporting event. Sheikha Al-Anoud bint Mana Al Hajri, Deputy CEO and Director of Corporate Affairs at the Qatar Financial Centre, commented on the award of the World Cup to Qatar: "This is a unique opportunity to place ourselves on the international sporting map or on the international commercial and economic map. The World Cup is just a small reflection of a massive effort." (source: "Qatar : focus sur le business autour de la Coupe du Monde de soccer" - Euronews)
Due to the country's particular weather conditions, the 2022 World Cup will exceptionally take place in winter, from November 20 to December 18, allowing players to train and compete in favorable conditions. This winter, 32 national teams will be competing to win the greatest of all soccer competitions.
Qatar 2022, a budget 20 times higher than the last World Cup
As well as being a major sporting event, the World Cup is also one of the world's biggest sports business events, with massive financial implications. A look at the economic stakes of the soccer World Cup:
Qatar's budget for the 2022 World Cup is a staggering $220 billion. This is 20 times the budget for the last edition of the competition, which was organized by Russia.
This budget includes the creation of the 7 new state-of-the-art stadiums that will host the matches (modern designs, connected stadiums, innovative air-conditioning systems, etc.). At the time the World Cup was awarded in 2010, only one stadium was operational for the competition, forcing the country to embark on the construction of a whole new infrastructure.
However, the budget for the construction of these new stadiums alone is estimated at between 6.5 and 10 billion dollars. The colossal sum invested by Qatar in the organization of this competition can be explained above all by the fact that it is part of the country's development project, Qatar 2023. In fact, the $220 billion was mainly used to build numerous world-class infrastructures such as roads, underground transport, airports, hotels and other sports facilities. Like the Olympic Games, the World Cup is also an opportunity for host countries and cities to revolutionize their mobility solutions and infrastructure.
What are the long-term benefits for Qatar?
Over 1.5 million fans will be present on Qatari soil during the month-long competition. The country expects to make over 20 billion dollars in short-term profits from direct revenues generated by the event. The timing of this competition is a real added value for the profitability of this edition of the World Cup. In fact, the Christmas period corresponds to the peak advertising period for advertisers. Coupled with the usual massive brand investment in this competition, this World Cup could become one of the most profitable in history in terms of advertising, marketing and events.
Nevertheless, the benefits of staging the World Cup in Qatar are not confined to short-term revenues. In fact, the principality is also expecting substantial long-term benefits, notably from the profitability of the new infrastructure and the boost to tourism that will result from the event.
Foreign direct investment on Qatari soil has also tripled in the last two years. These new companies, from a variety of sectors, will also enable Qatar to boost its economy in the long term once the World Cup is over.
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, a competition that stirs up controversy
The carbon footprint of the Qatar World Cup: a thorny issue
There are many controversies surrounding this World Cup. In addition to the fact that Qatar has no footballing culture whatsoever, its election to host the 2022 World Cup is more than ever the subject of environmental debate...
For some years now, environmental issues have been at the heart of the organization of any event. Despite this, local weather conditions forced the host country to equip all stadiums with air-conditioning systems, which will be active throughout the competition. This decision has been widely criticized by observers around the world. Air-conditioning stadiums is nothing new, especially in the USA and England, where many stadiums are heated.
Qatar, for its part, defends its environmental footprint and assures us that the air-conditioning will be powered by solar energy using photovoltaic panels. Saud Abdulaziz Abdul Ghani, creator of the air-conditioning system installed in the new stadiums, estimates that his innovation is "40% more sustainable than existing techniques".
Aside from the issue of stadium air-conditioning, efforts to reduce the carbon footprint are also worthy of note, with the example of the Ras Abu Aboud stadium: this brand-new stadium was built from containers and other recycled materials so that it could be dismantled and sold or reused once the World Cup was over.
Despite the arguments put forward by the host country to defend their commitment to the environment, there is still a great deal of criticism from observers around the world. In response to this criticism, FIFA has announced a tightening of the environmental criteria to be applied when selecting host countries for future international competitions.
Respect for human rights at the heart of the Qatar 2022 controversy
The biggest controversy surrounding this World Cup concerns the treatment of the 1.7 million immigrant workers who were employed to build Qatar's new infrastructure. Between poor living conditions, unpaid wages, forced labor and bans on leaving the country, the methods used by Qatar have been described as veritable modern-day slavery. More than 6,500 people are thought to have died since construction began.
This failure to respect human rights, coupled with an anti-LGBT policy enshrined in the country's law, contributed to a massive rejection by public opinion of the awarding of this event to the small emirate. From the brands' point of view, this very special World Cup is also an opportunity to defend strong values, as did Hummel, official equipment supplier to the Danish soccer federation. The brand has decided to offer jerseys in which the brand name and emblem have been toned down, if not erased, in order to convey a message about respect for human rights in the host country:
This article was published on ISG Sport Business Management's website: link
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