Key Concerns And Their Solutions For The Upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022

A country located at the center of the world, Qatar is set to host the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022, and the preparations for that are already underway. 32 teams, over a million fans, and a month-long footballing carnival, FIFA 2022 promises to be a good one.

But here's a thing, as the preparations continue with pace in Qatar, there are still a lot of lingering question marks about the world cup which need resolving from the country's point of the view. From the availability of alcohol to the options of accommodation available, issues are plenty in front of Qatar.

So, in order to shed some light on the key concerns ahead of the world cup, we've compiled a detailed guide in order to understand how Qatar is dealing with the top five lingering questions ahead of the world cup.

Key Problems And Their Solutions For The Doha FIFA World Cup

Here's how Qatar is finding solutions to the major issues ahead of the FIFA World Cup in 2022.

1. Travel To The Qatar

Now here's a fact, the Qatar 2022 World Cup is expected to receive a record number of visitors. There are, in fact, predictions that a total of 1.2 million visitors may arrive during this month-long competition.

So, the biggest question is, how will visitors avoid the hassles of travel bookings considering there may be a rush for the flight tickets with such a huge number of visitors set to arrive?

Well, in order to tackle this issue, the country has come up with a solution. Qatar Airways, which is also the official travel sponsor for the world cup, and the Hamad International Airport are set to join hands to bring a whopping 1300 flights into the country every single day for the whole month.

As per the experts, the number of cheap flights may even be higher considering the central location of Qatar in the world, and the fact that Qatar is one of the largest transit gateways for overseas travelers in the world which makes it commutable from every part of the world.

The decision has been taken to make flights not only affordable for the visitors but to also avoid the rush for tickets. Visitors would easily be able to book a flight to Qatar without worrying about the rushes for the tickets.

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2. The Question Of Accommodation

Accommodation is set to be amongst the prominent challenges for Qatar even when once the FIFA World Cup 2022 kicks off. As per an estimate, the country has fewer than 40,000 hotels while the organizers are planning to have about 70,000 hotel rooms ahead of the World Cup.

But the real question is, will that be enough?

Well, the FIFA 2022 is set to receive over a million visitors which may well be a record in itself and almost double the number of visitors that were there in Brazil in 2024. So, will even 70,000 hotel rooms be enough?

The Qatar government is finding ways to accommodate such a number of visitors in the country. There are reports that suggest the government has signed deals with some luxury cruise liners in order to set them up as hotels. These cruise liners would be able to accommodate a staggering 40,000 people during the FIFA World Cup.

Likewise, the government has even approached the organizers of the popular British music festival, Glastonbury. The idea, in this case, is to build luxury tents in the desert to accommodate the visitors on their travel.

3. Lack of Infrastructure

Lack of Infrastructure was one of the biggest questions in front of Qatar right since the day when the country won the bid to host the world cup. The question, at that time, was the lack of stadiums, connectivity, lack of hotels, and so on.

But here's s thing, much of it has changed since and Qatar is well on course to meet the requirements of infrastructure before the 2022 World Cup. The country is spending an estimated $200 billion USD on infrastructural projects ahead of the world cup which makes it the most expensive world cup ever.

There are eight stadiums being lined up for the FIFA World Cup and out of all the eight stadiums, seven will be newly built. Interestingly, these stadiums are set to be fully air-conditioned which is perhaps for the first time ever.

Have a look at the name of the stadiums below.

• Al Bayt Stadium
• Lusail Stadium
• Khalifa International Stadium
• Al Janoub Stadium
• Al Rayyan Stadium
• Al Thumama Stadium
• Education City Stadium
• Ras Abu Aboud Stadium

Speaking of other infrastructural projects, we've already discussed the issue of hotels and how Qatar faces a resounding challenge to meet the requirements of accommodation. However, the country is, in fact, working on building a number of hotels that will be ready to welcome the guests before the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Apart from this, there are roads being renovated and street lights being set up in the country ahead of the world cup. Hence, as far as the problems of infrastructure are concerned, Qatar may well have all the answers by the time the world cup kicks off.

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4. The Rights of Migrant Workers

The rights of migrant workers is an issue that has caught the world's eye. Qatar has faced immense scrutiny lately as hundreds of migrant workers have died during construction of several projects for the FIFA World Cup.

Interestingly, these workers constitute about 90% of the country's population. However, as per the official records of the government, only three workers have died so far. Hence, the bad publicity and a number of deaths going unnoticed have put Qatar on the back foot and the country has ended up facing the situation of reforming its labor laws.

In recent developments happening around the issue, Qatar has abolished the Kafala Sponsorship System which has been in places amongst the GCC countries. According to this law, no employee can leave the country or switch their current job without the approval of their employer.

Likewise, Qatar has passed a new minimum wage law, increasing the minimum wages of the workers and strengthened its worker protection rights bringing a new relief to the migrant workers in the country.

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Other Key Facts Around the FIFA World Cup 2022

Here are some facts and figures emerging around the FIFA World Cup 2022.

• The Doha metro network is expected to ferry around 1 million visitors during the FIFA World Cup 2022. The network stretches over a distance of 300 km and has 100 stations along the way, connecting all the venues of the world cup.
• The FIFA 2022 games will be played in November and December in a first-ever winter world cup in the Northern Hemisphere. The decision has been taken keeping the hot conditions of Qatar in mind during June and July. In fact, a winter world cup means one less concern of weather for Qatar.
• The Doha FIFA World Cup will be the most commutable world cup ever, and it is highly evident from the fact that Qatar's two most remote stadiums, Al Bayt and Al Wakrah are only 90 miles apart. Likewise, the Education City Stadium is a mere 51 minutes away from Bahrain through the high-speed rail network.
• The World Cup will be played in the fewest number of stadiums with only eight stadiums being lined up for the whole competition.
• The FIFA World Cup 2022 will be the first-ever world cup to be hosted by a middle eastern country.
• Qatar will officially be the smallest nation to host the FIFA World Cup. The country is about 1478 times smaller than the size of Russia who hosted the last world cup in 2018.

When Will the Tickets go Live for the FIFA World Cup?

The tickets of the eagerly awaited FIFA World Cup 2022 will go live on the official website of FIFA only as confirmed by FIFA itself. While the hospitality tickets will be live by the end of 2020 itself, the general tickets will go on sale in early 2021.

Although no official prices have been confirmed by FIFA yet, there are predictions that the tickets may range from $105 to $1200 in a category wise sale.

As the FIFA World Cup edges closer, there are several question marks that stand in the way of Qatar. However, the country has more or less been able to answer every question. Whether you think of infrastructural facilities, question marks in terms of travel and accommodation, the preparations being made by the country seem to be heading in the right direction.

As for the availability of alcohol, there are still question marks as to how Qatar will be managing the situation. Hence, what developments happen next remain to be seen.

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