There was strikingly adverse media protection of Qatar as host of the World Cup from Western media. A lot of it’s inaccurate, together with on the problem of price.
Protection of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar has been intensive, and far of it within the West has been adverse, primarily citing human rights points and the reported excessive price of the match. The extent of hostility is putting, particularly given the progress made on staff’ rights and civil freedoms in Qatar. Russia acquired much less adverse remark when internet hosting the World Cup in 2018, 4 years after its navy forces annexed massive elements of neighbouring Ukraine.
As regards the price of the World Cup, the determine of $200bn capital expenditure has usually been cited. As I famous in my final article, this sum pertains to strategic modernisation of the nation’s infrastructure for financial growth usually. Even the place media experiences make this distinction within the textual content, the headline usually makes the deceptive hyperlink to the World Cup solely.
Certainly, the blueprint for a lot of the modernisation programme was set out in 2008, two years earlier than Qatar was awarded the World Cup by FIFA. So it’s affordable to ask: If Qatar had not been awarded the 2022 match, how a lot of the $200bn would have been invested in the identical method? A glance again on the 2008 doc the Qatar Nationwide Imaginative and prescient 2030, signifies that the reply can be: The overwhelming majority. The doc outlines 4 pillars of growth:
Human growth, social growth, financial growth, and environmental growth.
It provides: ‘The nation’s hydrocarbon useful resource will finally run out. Future financial success will more and more rely upon … a brand new worldwide order that’s knowledge-based.’
Funding in training, broadband and workplace area has been made with a view to strengthening the knowledge-based economic system. A significant solar energy plant has been accomplished, and the funding programme features a higher extent of recent cycle paths (2,131km) than of recent roads (1,791km). Different examples of transport infrastructure embody a brand new airport, a deep-water sea port for Doha, a brand new underground metro system and a fleet of electrically powered buses.
There was important funding in new inns. A lot of that is funded privately. Financing a lodge development programme is predicated on projected earnings over a 10-15 12 months interval, so the takings for a sporting match lasting six weeks would type a really small a part of the calculation by the lender. A part of the plan for financial diversification is to spice up tourism in Qatar.
The Doha suburb of Lusail is a brand new city, and hosts one of many match’s stadiums. Whereas development was accomplished in time for the World Cup, that is a part of planning to accommodate progress. The outdated city was over-crowded and suburban growth was needed. Qatar’s inhabitants has grown from simply 50,000 in 1950 to round 3mn in 2022. Lusail is an analogous growth to the constructing of retailers, places of work, residential items and new stadiums for main tournaments in different nations, reminiscent of London and in South Africa.
A World Cup must be, primarily, a pageant of sport and an exquisite gathering through which folks from all around the world collect to see the spectacle of the best requirements of play and lend passionate help to their aspect. Individuals from the West and the East can come collectively and be taught from one another, whereas respecting one another’s cultures. Constructive criticism is welcome, however inaccurate reporting and unfair feedback are unhelpful.
Protection of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar has been intensive, and far of it within the West has been adverse, primarily citing human rights points and the reported excessive price of the match. The extent of hostility is putting, particularly given the progress made on staff’ rights and civil freedoms in Qatar. Russia acquired much less adverse remark when internet hosting the World Cup in 2018, 4 years after its navy forces annexed massive elements of neighbouring Ukraine.
As regards the price of the World Cup, the determine of $200bn capital expenditure has usually been cited. As I famous in my final article, this sum pertains to strategic modernisation of the nation’s infrastructure for financial growth usually. Even the place media experiences make this distinction within the textual content, the headline usually makes the deceptive hyperlink to the World Cup solely.
Certainly, the blueprint for a lot of the modernisation programme was set out in 2008, two years earlier than Qatar was awarded the World Cup by FIFA. So it’s affordable to ask: If Qatar had not been awarded the 2022 match, how a lot of the $200bn would have been invested in the identical method? A glance again on the 2008 doc the Qatar Nationwide Imaginative and prescient 2030, signifies that the reply can be: The overwhelming majority. The doc outlines 4 pillars of growth:
Human growth, social growth, financial growth, and environmental growth.
It provides: ‘The nation’s hydrocarbon useful resource will finally run out. Future financial success will more and more rely upon … a brand new worldwide order that’s knowledge-based.’
Funding in training, broadband and workplace area has been made with a view to strengthening the knowledge-based economic system. A significant solar energy plant has been accomplished, and the funding programme features a higher extent of recent cycle paths (2,131km) than of recent roads (1,791km). Different examples of transport infrastructure embody a brand new airport, a deep-water sea port for Doha, a brand new underground metro system and a fleet of electrically powered buses.
There was important funding in new inns. A lot of that is funded privately. Financing a lodge development programme is predicated on projected earnings over a 10-15 12 months interval, so the takings for a sporting match lasting six weeks would type a really small a part of the calculation by the lender. A part of the plan for financial diversification is to spice up tourism in Qatar.
The Doha suburb of Lusail is a brand new city, and hosts one of many match’s stadiums. Whereas development was accomplished in time for the World Cup, that is a part of planning to accommodate progress. The outdated city was over-crowded and suburban growth was needed. Qatar’s inhabitants has grown from simply 50,000 in 1950 to round 3mn in 2022. Lusail is an analogous growth to the constructing of retailers, places of work, residential items and new stadiums for main tournaments in different nations, reminiscent of London and in South Africa.
A World Cup must be, primarily, a pageant of sport and an exquisite gathering through which folks from all around the world collect to see the spectacle of the best requirements of play and lend passionate help to their aspect. Individuals from the West and the East can come collectively and be taught from one another, whereas respecting one another’s cultures. Constructive criticism is welcome, however inaccurate reporting and unfair feedback are unhelpful.
* The writer is a Qatari banker, with a few years of expertise within the banking sector in senior positions.
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