Football's greatest competition on earth, the FIFA World Cup is set to return once again and, this time, the event has a new home. Qatar, a country famed for its generous Arabian hospitality and tourist landmarks will be the host for the upcoming spectacle which, what promises to be, the most expensive world cup ever held.
With the host nation splashing out some serious amount of wealth in wake of the preparations and football fans around the world delirious about the upcoming event. Let's take a look at what actually makes FIFA 2022 the most expensive world cup ever.
How Much Is Qatar Spending Weekly For The Preparations of FIFA 2022?
Now here's an interesting fact about the upcoming FIFA event in Qatar. The country is spending a whopping $500 million a week on infrastructural projects ahead of the world cup which includes the construction of roads, highways, stadiums, hospitals, rail, port, over 50,000 street lights, hotels, a new airport, and so much more.
As per a statement given in 2017 by the finance minister of Qatar, Ali Shareef Al-Emadi, the country's primary objective for the next three to four years was to work towards getting prepared for the world cup, and as it's evident today in 2020, Qatar is well on its way to complete all infrastructural projects before the deadline.
In fact, the country awarded 90% of its contracts for the 2022 projects as early as in 2017 itself. Talking about the overall cost? The overall expenditure of Qatar for the world cup would be about $200 billion, making it the most expensive world cup ever by far.
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How Many Stadiums Is Qatar Building For the FIFA World Cup?
The FIFA World Cup 2022 will officially be the first world cup with the fewest number of stadiums. Normally, major events like world cups do take place in at least 12 different stadiums, as in the case of Russia during the 2018 FIFA World Cup when the competition was held in 12 different venues.
However, the Qatar World Cup will only take place in eight stadiums, each equipped with world-class facilities and air-conditioning. Out of all the eight seven stadiums, seven will be newly constructed while one stadium will be fully refurbished by Qatar.
Venues for the world cup are as follows.
- Khalifa International Stadium
- Al Rayyan Stadium
- Education City Stadium
- Lusail Stadium
- Al Bayt Stadium
- Al Janoub Stadium
- Al Thumama Stadium
- Ras Abu Aboud Stadium
Suggested Read: A Detailed Guide To The Stadiums In Qatar
How Much Is Qatar Spending On Tourism For The FIFA 2022?
Accommodation may well be a major problem for Qatar as far as the FIFA World Cup is concerned. The country is set to receive a staggering 1.2-1.5 million visitors during the world which means that there will be a huge shortage of hotel rooms if the current numbers are what we go by.
But here's a thing, the country is spending about $40 billion as part of its efforts to revamp its accommodation facilities and overall tourism within the country. Reports suggest that Qatar has signed deals with multiple cruise liners that will act as floating hotels during the 2022 FIFA games and would be able to accommodate about 40,000 visitors in total.
Likewise, the government of Qatar has even approached the organizers of Glastonbury, the famous British Music Festival to set up luxury tents for accommodation in the desert.
As world football's greatest competition returns this 2022 in Qatar, football fans around the world are excited about the prospect of air-conditioned stadiums and over a million visitors for the event. A first-ever world cup as it is set to be for Qatar, the hospitality of the Middle-East would be a telling feature at this time and Qatar prepares to make it grander than ever with $200 billion USD worth of infrastructural projects. So, aren't you excited about the upcoming footballing carnival?
Suggested Read: Visiting Qatar For FIFA 2022; Here Are Some Unique Experiences During The Football Match In Qatar
FAQs
Qatar is spending a whopping $200 billion USD on infrastructural projects ahead of the world cup. This easily makes it the most expensive world cup ever. Read the above article to know more.
Qatar won the bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2022 by defeating the likes of Japan, the USA, South Korea, etc., in multiple rounds.
The FIFA World Cup 2022 will begin from the 21st of November and end with the final Scheduled on the 18th of December, only a week before Christmas.
Qatar's preparations for the upcoming world cup are underway with pace and the seven new stadiums are in their final stage of completion. In fact, Qatar has already confirmed the completion of one of its venues, the Education City Stadium.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup has already been moved from its usual summer slot of June and July to November and December due to the summer conditions in Qatar. Likewise, FIFA has postponed the qualifying matches for the world cup due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
Once the world cup is over, the seating stands in the stadiums will be dismantled and sent to other countries to provide them with adequate infrastructure. In fact, Qatar will completely dismantle one of its venues of the world cup as it has been built with containers and removal seats.
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