Qatar's high World Cup standards a beacon for others to emulate: experts

 

 

 

Global praise for Qatar's preparations to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the unique and exceptional edition of the tournament that is being held for the first time in an Arab Islamic country, continues interrupted.A number of officials, writers, media professionals and sports stars from countries around the world and Arab nations believe Qatar's achievements and its enviable preparations to organise the tournament will remain a guiding light for countries preparing to host the next editions of the FIFA World Cup.France's Minister of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Amelie Oudea-Castera, called on her country's fans to enjoy the World Cup, take advantage of the opportunity, and head to Qatar to know about the nation and watch football matches.Mario Innaurato, former fitness coach of the Belgian national team, pointed out on Belgian television LN24 at the Qatar World Cup matches the maximum distance between the two farthest stadiums does not exceed 100km. Therefore the players will not be fatigued, unlike previous tournaments, where they had to travel on planes for hours and go to airports after each match. In the current edition, players will be able to go directly to their accommodation for a well deserved rest.Saudi writer Dr Hani al-Qahtani said the voices of criticism against Qatar, the host of the tournament, seems due to the fact that assigning the task of organising a major football event such as the FIFA World Cup to an Arab Islamic country did not appeal to some countries.He added that Qatar's preparations to organise and host this major sporting event are more than wonderful, with the proximity of the eight stadiums - where all the tournament matches will be held - and the presence of fans of all teams within this space making it an unprecedented event in the history of World Cup tournaments. This makes this edition of the World Cup unique, he said rejecting the smear campaigns against Qatar. Gulf countries and nations which have suffered from the condescending views have condemned the smear campaigns, he pointed out. Juan Corellano, a journalist for the Spanish website La Media Ingles, said Qatar's reliance on football as a geopolitical strategy has had its effect.Qataris have always been the smartest in this regard in the region, he added.Corellano said a documentary on Qatar hosting the World Cup will be broadcast later this week on La Media Ingles platform,He pointed out that the film is one of the few projects in Spanish that reviews the last 12 years that shook the global football scene in order to organise the World Cup.As for writer Ibrahim Wazan, in an article in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Benaa, he said that from the moment of winning the hosting of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which was 12 years ago, a fierce war was waged against Qatar with fallacies and fabrications broadcast.Qatar, with all its agencies and institutions, has successfully completed all preparations to organise the World Cup, he stressed.Vahid Hajipour, economic affairs editor for the Iranian newspaper, Jam-e Jam, said while the global economy was expected to fare poorly, Qatar is moving in a different direction. Citing global economic reports, Hajipour said the International Monetary Fund expects the Qatari economy to grow further, benefiting from the holding of the World Cup.He expected Qatar to generate $17bn from holding the tournament. The Qatari economy will witness significant growth thanks to the organisation of the World Cup, he said.