With few cities and searing heat, Qatar wasn't taken seriously in the initial campaign. But FIFA has begun to warm to the idea of introducing a World Cup in the Middle East for the first time. Qatar has won support for its proposed stadium innovations: air-conditioned facilities that, after the tournament, would be disassembled and donated to needy countries.
As previously mentioned, Qatar is bidding for the 2022 World Cup. At the moment, every spare square meter is painted with bid reminders:
Qatar's biggest problem: the heat. The Cup's always staged in June and July; when I was here in June, the temperature was as much as 127.4 degrees F. Qatar's answer?: it proposes to air condition each outdoor stadium to be used in the tournament, keeping the air no warmer than 27 degrees C (80.5 degrees F).
A winner will be selected on December 2nd. There's lots of arguments back and forth about whether winning would be good for Qatari values, but my guess is that losing would be worse--a crash in property values.
1 comment:
How many participants in the World Cup will die of heat prostration? From my experience, playing soccer or running long distances in 75 degree weather is decidedly more uncomfortable than doing it in 40 degree weather. Humid and 120? Fugeddaboutit.
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