A Small Nation's Big Dreams
Football - A sport that transcends all boundaries. It is not just a game of 22 men chasing a ball. Rather, it is a sport that binds the world as a whole and works towards peace and progress.
The FIFA World Cup 1994 was hosted in the USA. This gave a big opportunity to the Americans to showcase their talents in front of the biggest audience - THE WORLD. As a result, the sport gained immense popularity in America and their national team had quite a good run in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Now, the World Cup has never been hosted in the Middle East. But the love and passion for the sport in the Middle East has not been compromised. Qatar's bid for the 2022 World Cup stunned the world as no one could imagine such a small nation hosting such a big worldwide event. But they did. And they pulled it off with sheer excellence.
Qatar promised to showcase the best traditions of the world's greatest sporting event, while presenting astonishing innovations aimed at further propelling football's worldwide growth. This is what the Qatar's 2022 bid site says - "We’re planning a truly amazing FIFA World Cup™. It will be the most compact FIFA World Cup™ ever, for the benefit of fans and teams. Hosting the tournament in the Middle East for the first time will be a landmark for the region and a profound statement about cross-cultural understanding. We’re pioneering technologies that will allow for outdoor, air-conditioned stadiums that will be carbon neutral, benefitting the environment and creating ideal conditions for players and spectators. After the FIFA World Cup™, these stadiums will be partially deconstructed, allowing us to build 22 new stadiums in the developing world. The technologies we are developing to cool our stadiums will also be made available for use around the world." Qatar has showcased amazing intentions when it comes to the stadiums and the immense criticism it received for its climate. All of the stadiums will harness the power of the suns rays to provide a cool environment for players and fans by converting solar energy into electricity that will then be used to cool both fans and players. When games are not taking place, the solar installations at the stadiums will export energy onto the power grid. During matches, the stadiums will draw energy from the grid. This is the basis for the stadiums’ carbon-neutrality. A few of the stadiums are - Doha Port Stadium, Lusail Iconic Stadium, Sports City Stadium, etc. What an amazing way to save the environment and please the football world at the SAME TIME.
As the Chairman of Qatar's 2022 Bid Committee, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani personifies the unique combination of sporting zest, serious professionalism and Arab heritage. The man who changed Qatar's history - Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. According to him, Qatar has a date with history in 2022. Also present at the bidding presentations and at the time of the result announcement were HH. Sheikha Mozah and HH. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Apparently, this was enough for the 22-man committee of the FIFA Executive Board to believe that it was indeed in the sport's best interests to hand over the grand stage to Qatar. Indeed this is a chance for Qatar to make a name for itself in the World and be an inspiration for the rest of the Middle East nations.
QATAR WILL BE THE SMALLEST NATION TO EVER A HOST A FIFA WORLD CUP IN 2022 AND AS EXPECTATIONS HAVE IT, IT WILL BE THE MOST AMAZING FIFA WORLD CUP TO HAVE EVER BEEN WITNESSED BY THE WORLD.
The video showing Qatar's future stadiums has been added above.
This is Qatar's bid presentation to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
