FIFA has clarified the confusion surrounding the supposedly high number of spectators in Qatar’s World Cup stadiums. Apparently, there is significantly more capacity available than initially communicated which means none of the eight stadia were packed houses as has been projected.
‘kicker’ stated that FIFA putting the official number of spectators at 67,372 at the opening game between Qatar and Ecuador on November 20th looked like a ‘jack-up’ figure. Officially, the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor could only seat 60,000 people.
Similar stadium attendance figures were quoted as regards the three games held on November 21st.
‘kicker’ further stated that FIFA then cleared the confusion late in the evening on November 21st and communicated new, official figures on the stadium capacity. For all eight World Cup arenas, this is now higher than the originally published capacities, which were apparently rounded figures.
If one adds up the new places that have been added as a result of the correction, there are over 46,000 more places available than initially assumed. However, this also means that the newly communicated capacities have not yet been fully utilized in any of the four games, which means no game was completely sold out!
Qatar Stadia Capacities
- Al Bayt Stadium capacity 60,000 – Jack-up figure – 68,895;
- Al-Janoub Stadium capacity 40,000 – Jack-up figure – 44,325;
- Ahmad bin Ali Stadium capacity 40,000 – Jack-up figure – 45,032;
- Khalifa International Stadium capacity 45,416 – Jack-up figure – 45,857;
- Education City Stadium capacity 40,000 – Jack-up figure – 44,667;
- Lusail Stadium capacity 80,000 – Jack-up figure – 88,966;
- Stadium 974 capacity 40,000 – Jack-up figure – 44,089; and
- Al Thumama Stadium capacity 40,000 – Jack-up figure – 44,400.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup™ is an international association football tournament contested by the men’s national teams of FIFA’s member-associations, and the 22nd FIFA World Cup™. The event is currently underway in Qatar from November 20th and will conclude on December 18th, 2022. This is the first World Cup to be held in the Arab world, and the second World Cup held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan. France is the defending champions, having defeated Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ Final.
FIFA, which stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association, is an international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, its membership now comprises 211 national associations.
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