Here we are. Sunday 20 November will start i Qatar 2022 World Cup with the first match between the hosts and Ecuador. This is the most popular sporting event in the world, followed in every part of the globe which, this year, will exceptionally be played between November and December (the final is scheduled for 18 December).
The 22th edition of the FIFA Men's World Cup represents a unicum: it will be the first time that the World Cup will be played in the autumn, but also the first in an Arab country. Not only that: Qatar, which is roughly the size of Abruzzo, will be the smallest country to have ever hosted the tournament and the least populated (it has about 2,9 million inhabitants, as many as Rome).
The world's most discussed and controversial ever
But what will start on Sunday will above all be the world's most discussed and controversial ever. And sport, in this case, has very little to do with it. The reasons concern the money spent, human rights denied, the exploited workforce, the so-called sportwashing, the absence of any football culture and related infrastructure in the country. And so on and so forth. Going back in time with the recriminations and complaints presented in recent years, we arrive at 2010, the year in which Fifa assigned the World Cup to the small Gulf state, attracting criticism from half the world. Not surprisingly, following this choice, the USA opened an investigation which led to the removal of the now former president Sepp Blatter who today says “The World Cup in Qatar? A mistake, a bad choice”.
Why do it then? Qatar, which owes its immense economic resources to oil and natural gas, extremely fundamental raw materials in the last period, has invested an amount of money never seen before in the World Cup project, trying to exploit the event to increase its international geopolitical role. It is no coincidence that the 2022 FIFA World Cup has been included in the "Qatar National Vision 2030", the enormous plan with which the Qatari government aims to develop the nation's economy, infrastructure, industry, health and even schools . In short, Qatar started from scratch by building a gigantic project around the event which also required the "hiring" of labor from abroad, often with low wages and inhumane working conditions that have led to the deaths of many workers. According to a survey published by the Guardian they would even be 6.500 workers died while building the infrastructure necessary to organize and host the event.
Qatar 2022 World Cup: how much did it cost to organize them?
Legendary is also the figure that circulates when it comes to the expenses incurred by Qatar to organize the 2022 World Cup. In fact, we are talking about 500 million a day for a total of 220 billions of dollars. This is a sum greater than the cost of all the World Cups held up to 2018. For comparison, just think that four years ago, to host the World Cup, Russia paid out 11,6 billion dollars.
Ma Qatar really spent such a high amount only for the World Cup? The answer is yes and no. It is true that those 10 billion have been spent in the last 220 years, but it is equally true that they do not only concern sport and do not concern only the men's soccer World Cup.
As mentioned, the 2022 World Cup has been included in the "Qatar National Vision 2030”, the government investment plan that aims to develop the country. As explained by the communication director of the organizing committee of the World Cup, Fatma Al Nuami, “most of these infrastructure projects were planned even before we got the right to host the World Cup and they would have been made anyway. We accelerated them for the Cup»”. The monstrous figure of 220 billion has in fact been invested in the construction of a new international airport, strange new ones, subway and other urban transport, hotels and tourist facilities that arose out of nowhere in a very short time. It was even built an entire (small) city, called Lusail, located a few kilometers away from the capital Doha and where, once completed, about 450 people can live.
Roughly speaking: the World Cup was only the "excuse" to anticipate the times, but that money would still have been spent even if the event had been awarded to another country.
If, on the other hand, we only take into account the investments necessary for the sporting event in itself, the figure becomes decidedly lower. To build the stadiums, the training pitches, the structures that host the teams and the services connected to them, Qatar spent between $6,5 and $8 billion.
And the earnings?
As far as receipts are concerned, Qatar has estimated a $17 billion increase in revenue, while for Fifa the revenues should be equal to about 7 billion dollars.
Small note of color: second Infodate, the football World Cup do those who organize them earn only if Italy wins them. Over the last fifty years, in fact, the only two editions in which revenues exceeded costs were those of Spain in 1982 and Germany in 2006. Given the enormous outlay and our absence from the World Cup, Qatar therefore seems not have hopes.
Qatar 2022 World Cup: the huge stadium project
Once the World Cup is over, Qatar's 2,9 million will remain in stock 8 stages located in an area about 70 kilometers large. All large and very modern. The most famous is theAt Janoub Stadium (in Al Wakrah; 40 seats). The opening match will instead be played in the stadium Al Bayt of Al Khor (60 seats), while the final will be at Lusail Stadium (80 seats), a facility located 20 km from the center of Doha, designed by the famous British architect Norman Foster and built specifically for the tournament. What will less than 3 million people do with 8 huge stadiums in a country where there isn't even a football culture? The question seems destined to remain unanswered.
Qatar 2022 World Cup: how much does the winning team earn?
Starting from Sunday, 32 national teams will compete to win the 2022 World Cup. Overall up for grabs there will be 440 million dollars, while Fifa will give to each participant a bonus of 1,5 million.
The team that lifts the cup will receive 42 million dollars, 30 will instead go to the runners-up, 27 to the third. The quarters will be able to console themselves with 25 million. Qualifying for the quarter-finals will earn each team $17 million, while $13 million has been allocated for the round of 9. Finally, participation in the group stage alone will earn each team $XNUMX million.
Finally Fifa will distribute $209 million to the clubs as "compensation" for the players who went to play for their respective national teams.
Qatar 2022 World Cup: how much do tickets cost?
According to the latest announcements have been around 3 million tickets sold. Compared to the 2018 edition of the World Cup, the price of tickets has risen, except for residents, who will spend around 40 Qatari riyals, about 10 euros, to see the group stage matches. For all the others the cost is much higher. Taking the final alone as an example, compared to four years ago prices increased by 46% for the first category and 30% for the second. The cheapest ticket to attend the final costs around 516 euros, that more expensive than 1.400.
