Qatar’s Successful World Cup Bid: 9 New Stadiums in 10 Years

(Proposed Al-Khor Stadium)

Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, a first for an Arab nation.  The small middle eastern country a tenth of the size of Ohio overcame several challenges to outbid 4 other formidable opponents including Australia, Japan, South Korea and yes, even the United States.

Two of their biggest obstacles include a lack of infrastructure (the need to build 9 new stadiums and renovate 3) and inclement weather (the temperature in Qatar at the time of the tournament averages 95 degrees and daytime highs can easily exceed 130 degrees). 

The solution?  Build 9 new open air stadiums to accommodate the competition, complete with cooling technology that can reduce the temperatures by as much as 40 degrees at field level and renovate the remaining three stadiums in the ten remaining years before the first football hits the pitch - all for a “cool” $3 Billion.

The result?  The first six designs were unveiled recently and they truly are remarkable.  Take a look at these five designs from Albert Speer and Partners:




And here is Foster + Partner’s design for the Lusail Iconic Stadium:



In addition to the 12 new and renovated stadiums proposed, Qatar will also be developing the infrastructure to host the event as it relates to hotel rooms, transportation (a new $13 billion airport opens in 2012), Team base camps and training sites as well as a myriad of other supporting facilities required to accommodate the 3 million plus visitors.  This will also create high demand for new retail development and an opportunity for Qatar to be proverbially “on the map”.  All they need now is an official song by Shakira!

In addition – the Qatar bid has proposed a carbon-neutral event supporting part of that vision by the ability of removing modular sections of the new stadiums after the event concludes and reconstructing them to create 22 stadiums in developing countries around the world.

For the full Qatar proposal – check out the:

2022 FIFA World Cup Bid Evaluation Report:  Qatar.