Qatar 2022 chiefs in Australia for scouting mission ahead of first World Cup in Middle East
QATAR has sent a team of officials to Sydney to closely monitor Australia’s Asian Cup success as it prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Asian Cup
Don't miss out on the headlines from Asian Cup. Followed categories will be added to My News.
QATAR has sent a commanding team of officials to Sydney to closely monitor Australia’s Asian Cup success as it prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Qatari delegation has confirmed it has had high powered meetings with the Asian Cup’s local organising committee, the Federal government’s major events taskforce, the NSW transport department, SBS TV, World Sports Group (TV host broadcasters) and other strategic stakeholders.
Member of Qatar’s supreme committee for delivery and legacy (SC) have been based in Sydney for more than a week examining how the Asian Cup can help benefit the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East.
The delegation also features stakeholders from Qatar’s ministry of interior, internal security forces, the football association, and Qatar’s Stars soccer league.
Sakis Batsilas - SC’s executive director of sport business development and competition - says Qatar is aiming to host the most successful FIFA World Cup in history.
“We want Qatar’s World Cup to be one of the most innovative and memorable World Cups ever,” Batsilas said.
“Knowledge is the raw material for innovation, so the more we learn about the experiences of other countries, the easier it will be for us to create new approaches to the various aspects of hosting major sporting events.”
Some SC members have been working with the Asian Cup’s local organising committee’s (LOC) program.
SC has also inspected Stadium Australia’s facilities, the AFC’s official fans zones, attended various group stage matches and visited one official training site ensuring that Qatar has in depth details before tabling an expansive report when the group returns to the Middle East.
Former Socceroos team manager Gary Moretti is SC’s group leader for the Asian Cup observers’ program.
The SC team is expected back in Qatar on January 25.
“This will be the first time the SC sends employees to work for another LOC,” Moretti said.
“Many people that work for the SC have worked on mega events in the past, but for others, this will be an introduction.
“Secondments are an excellent way for the people who will likely be involved in the day-to-day operations of the World Cup in 2022 to get first-hand experience working on a major sporting event.
“There is no substitute for the experience you get when you are working on the ground.
“Experiencing the (Asian Cup) tournament is just the first phase of the observation program.
“The real value of the program comes from capturing and cataloguing the information we gather and then incorporating that into the planning process to ensure we host an amazing tournament in 2022.”
The SC’s first official observation assignment program was in Brazil where the 82 person strong delegation conducted an extensive study on how Brazil’s 2014 World Cup became a resounding success.
SC visited Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium, the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia, the International Broadcast Centre, England’s team base camp and training facility, FIFA’s Brazil based headquarters, and Rio’s official FIFA fans fest.
SC’S representative for the observer program Shaikha Al Thani travelled to Brazil claiming the experience was unique.
“The information we came back with was very beneficial as a learning experience to hosting such a major event,’’ she said.
“Apart from seeing event preparations, we also took part in visits to the local organising committee and met with various officials to see how Brazil has developed in recent years in anticipation of the FIFA World Cup.”
The SC team of 17 has also been very impressed by the “high level of coordination amongst stakeholders.”
SC will take its team to study the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand and the 2018 FIFA World Cup preliminary draw in Russia later this year.
Qatar won the right to host FIFA World Cup in Zurich in December 2010, beating out Australia, the US, Japan and South Korea.
The nation is expected to spend more than $200 billion on the World Cup project.
Qatar opened a new $15 billion international airport last April, is in the process of building eight new World Cup stadiums and has set aside $35 billion for a new rail network.
Originally published as Qatar 2022 chiefs in Australia for scouting mission ahead of first World Cup in Middle East
Fowler keen to clear the air on Paris flop
Accusations of “pampering” were thrown at the Matildas following their disappointing exit at the Paris Olympic Games.
Huge concerns for new AFC Women’s Champions League
It hasn’t kicked off yet but FIFPRO Asia have serious concerns about the financial strain the AFC Women’s Champions League will have on clubs, athletes’ welfare and disruptions to domestic competitions.