Qatar stadium ready for FIFA spectacle

Article posted by Coliseum, June 8^th, 2020

Video: Road to 2022 (YouTube)

Qatar is all geared up to inaugurate a third football stadium on June 15th which has been completed for the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ to be held in the Western Asia country.

The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy and Qatar Foundation announced on June 4 the completion of the Education City Stadium, third of the eight FIFA World Cup™ Qatar 2022 stadiums.

The Education City Stadium, a venue which can fit in up to 40,000 spectators, is an arena on the outskirts of the capital Doha, and sits right in the middle of some of Qatar’s leading universities.

“The stadium’s completion will be marked on June 15 with a live program which celebrates the contribution of frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic. The show will also discuss the future of the sport, mental health, and fan experience,” a statement made by the organizing committee read.

Image: Nussli

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown into total disarray the world’s sporting calendar and has led to the cancellation of sporting showpieces.

These include the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games scheduled for July and football’s Euro championships due to start this month. Both events will now take place next year.

Qatar is delivering a total of eight venues in time for the 2022 sporting spectacle and is continuing with its construction and preparations full steam. It will become the first country in the Middle East to host the World Cup.

“We are continuing to work at a much slower pace than normal, but we are blessed with already being ahead of the game in terms of infrastructure,” Hassan al-Thawadi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, told mediapersons.

“We have completed more than 80 percent of venues two and a half years before kick-off,” he added.

Qatar has started to loosen the leash on COVID-19 restrictions, allowing people to exercise outdoors without having to wear a mask and extending the working hours of the commercial and service sectors.

So far, the Gulf State has reported more than 63,000 coronavirus cases and 45 deaths.

The FIFA World Cup™ is scheduled from November 21-December 18, 2022, breaking with tradition with a winter kick-off to avoid Qatar’s summer which is a scorcher.

The Education City Stadium, dubbed ‘Diamond in the Desert’, endorses a lot of sustainability features such as direct access to public transport via the Education City tram system link to Doha Metro and low toxicity indoor materials that provide a robust indoor environment.

Additionally, the LED sports lighting at the stadium will contribute to better lighting with lower energy consumption.

Earlier this year, Education City Stadium received a five-star rating from the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS).

In 2019, Qatar reached a new high by finishing the turf-laying in record time of two of the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ stadiums – Al Wakrah Stadium and Al Bayt Stadium.

The Education City ground, named as such for the surrounding university and research campuses, will host fixtures through to the quarterfinals. After the tournament, half of its 40,000 seats will be donated to build stadia in developing countries.

Two and a half years before the World Cup kicks off, Qatar has already launched the brand new 40,000-capacity Al-Janoub Stadium and the refurbished Khalifa International ground. Five new stadiums remain under construction.

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