Qatar in Brazil to observe the World Cup

A 140-strong team of observers put together by Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy is in Brazil to gain first-hand experience in organising the World Cup.

Government agencies, including Public Works Authority (Ashghal), Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) and Internal Security Forces (Lekhwiya) have joined the mission and are gathering data from the Brazilian experience, Al Jazeera reported yesterday.

Qatar-based major engineering firms, including US consultancy giant CH2MHill — responsible for the programme management of Qatar 2022 World Cup — have also joined the mission to inspect Brazilian stadiums and major infrastructure related to the World Cup.

“It is great to see everything coming together in Brazil and in Qatar, where we’ve started building the first stadium in Al Wakrah. Things are finally materialising,” Juan Ruiz, spokesperson for the committee, told Al Jazeera.

Hend Zainal, Head of Marketing, Qatar Tourism Authority, who is part of the mission, told Al Jazeera that eight years would be more than enough for Qatar to get ready for the tournament.

Addressing differences between Brazil 2014 and Qatar 2022 — for example, Qatari alcohol restrictions — Zainal said: “The Qatari government has announced it would allow for a certain level of freedom during the tournament.

“The government is going to deliver what it has promised. But it will all be in the spirit of the host country. We will introduce our guests to the culture of Qatar, like Brazil is doing with its visitors,” Zainal said.

The mission has suggested that Qataris remain confident about keeping the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, despite it being at the centre of a row over alleged corruption during the controversial bidding process for the tournament.

One of Brazil’s largest newspapers, Folha de Sao Paulo, wrote last week that FIFA President Sepp Blatter has received the outcome of the investigation by the FIFA Ethics Committee into the bidding process.

The Peninsula | Image from megasignal.net