Dario Cadavid: We want players to have the best conditions for football.
There is often an element of fantasy linked to the idea of cooling outdoor football stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Almost four years on from when I joined the Qatar 2022 Bid Committee and Qatar winning the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, people still ask me if it is possible to play football here in the summer. My answer is always the same: yes.
I was motivated to work for the Qatar 2022 Bid Committee because Qatar didn’t shy away from challenges, they embraced them. As an architect, one always dreams of working on projects that can cause a paradigm shift in the field. After all, Qatar could simply build a retractable roof on a stadium to make things simpler, but then there wouldn’t be any need for innovation.
To begin with, Qatar’s Al Sadd Stadium, where Real Madrid and Spain legend Raúl González Blanco most recently plied his trade for two seasons, has had fully-functioning outdoor cooling systems working since 2008. Valves around the pitch and below each seat blow cool air into the arena, using traditional power generators. I took CNN International’s Becky Anderson to a training session there last fall.
In September 2010, FIFA’s technical inspectors attended a Qatar Stars League match at the same stadium between Al Sadd and Al Rayyan – the local derby – when the on-field and spectator tribune temperature was 19 degrees Celsius. And, that wasn’t the only cooled venue FIFA visited in Qatar.
In 2010, I oversaw the project to build a prototype, 500-seat version of a proposed FIFA World Cup venue, to showcase specifically to FIFA how the state-of-the-art air cooling systems could be powered using solar energy work. We were able to lower the ambient air temperature to 23 degrees Celsius, when it was in the low 40s outside. FIFA was impressed on both counts.
We want players to have the best conditions for football. I used to live in Miami before coming to the Middle East and I remember watching Mexico play Ireland on television during the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the heat of Orlando (mind you, not uncommon summer weather for many cities across the Northern Hemisphere). Our concept will make sure all teams play comfortably in the same, safe conditions – creating a level playing field.
People then usually ask me: What about the fans?
This summer at a beach in Qatar, we tested our cooling systems in an open-air, custom-built fan zone for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The temperatures inside the fan zone were on average 12 degrees Celsius lower inside the venue.
Our bid was based on the sole intent of hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the summer. We are offering solutions to keep players and fans comfortable - and developing those solutions to ensure that they are environmentally sustainable.
My team of technical and sustainability experts have worked with international climate specialists to analyse the reality of conditions likely to be experienced at the time of the tournament. Every firm who has been appointed to design one of our stadiums has been asked to demonstrate how they plan to cool the pitch to an optimal 26 degrees Celsius and shaded spectator stands to between 24 and 28 degrees Celsius.
This is well below the temperature of 32 degrees Celsius when FIFA requires a cooling break to be taken – as we witnessed at the Estádio Castelão in Fortaleza this summer during the Mexico vs. Netherlands round of 16 match.
Passive and active cooling in outdoor areas will connect stadiums to Qatar’s transportation network. As spectators approaches a stadium, the average temperature will slowly lower from approximately 32 degrees Celsius, to 26 degrees Celsius (± 2).
We will forge ahead implementing and developing this technology. Our commitment to this is grounded in the legacy it will offer for Qatar and countries with similar climates. It will enable sport to be played 12 months of the year. And, the application of this technology is not limited to stadiums or sport venues. It can be applied in public spaces, so people can enjoy outdoor activities all year round.
We understand the scepticism and respect the work that has gone into the study authored by Professors Andreas Matzarakis and Dominik Froehlich. However, we believe the experts currently developing these ground-breaking technologies will mitigate any concerns for players or spectators visiting Qatar in the summer, where the Qatar Stars League began playing official matches last week.
As with any innovative technology, doubts remain of whether we can deliver, but I believe we are beginning to demonstrate that cooling open-air sport venues is science fact and not science fiction.
*A version of this article appeared as an interview in the Spanish daily sports newspaper AS.
*Dario Cadavid is the Technical Assurance & Integration Senior Manager for the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, the Qatari government entity in charge of leading the country’s preparations to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.