When, in December last year, Qatar was successful in its bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, young Qataris streamed noisily onto the Doha Corniche to celebrate, waving maroon and white national flags. Not only had a country which had never qualified for the tournament become host, but the Middle East, long seeing itself as an outcast in the international footballing stakes, felt it had gained recognition. The Arab world’s zest for 'the beautiful game' had at long last been acknowledged.
Bankers do not expect Qatar to sit on its laurels for long. Much work needs to be done and milestones completed if the country is to meet its target of putting tournament infrastructure in place over the next seven years. This will allow four years for hosting trial events, and fine-tuning the elaborate feats of engineering that will be required. Creating stadiums with the air-conditioning capacity alone to counter average summer temperatures of 40 degrees centigrade will be a daunting task.
