Qatar World Cup would be worth "billions" they claim

By Andrew Warshaw

November 24 – Qatar is stepping up its public relations machine ahead of next week’s 2022 World Cup vote with a flurry of activities and statements showcasing the country’s facilities and legacy.

In what appears to be a deliberate trouble-shooting attempt to play down FIFA’s official Evaluation report which flagged up a number of potential flaws, the Qataris are leaving nothing to chance by circulating a comprehensive economic report highlighting what the region will offer if it wins the vote next week.

The Grant Thornton report claims that the award of the World Cup to Qatar would untap “massive potential” and grow the value of football in the region by $14 billion (£9 billion) by 2022 and by a further $10 billion (£6 billion) by 2042, pricisely the sort of statistics the campaign team hope will persuade any doubters within the Fifa hierarchy.

Bid chief exeuctive Hassan al-Thawadi said the figures proved that Qatar was not just pouring money into its campaign without any thought towards the future.

“Grant Thornton’s report helps to quantify the significant commercial and football development opportunities for FIFA and football if the Middle East has the historic opportunity to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022,” said al-Thawadi.

“We can see many millions of new fans participating, watching and consuming football.

“We know the passion for football in the Middle East.

“The missing piece of the jigsaw is having the FIFA World Cup as the catalyst to unlock a whole new generation of fans and players.

“This report adds to our belief that a FIFA World Cup in the Middle East in 2022 would not only make history but also open up a significant and exciting new football frontier for FIFA and its partners.”

Given the central location of Qatar between east and west, Grant Thortnton’s research also claims 82 per cent of the world’s time zones would receive games live in prime time.

“This has the potential to create an enhanced rights value for FIFA,” it said.

Middle East TV audiences for the World Cup have grown almost 350 per cent since 1986 and

Qatar’s proximity to both European and Asian markets will prove far more commercially valuable than the World Cup in South Africa 2010, the report adds.

As it was published, so UK bookmaker William Hill installed Qatar as odds-on favourite for the 2022 finals, followed by Australia at 3-1 and the USA at 7-2.

Russia were installed as 10-11 favourites to win the right to stage the 2018 finals followed by England at 6-4, Portugal/Spain at 7-2 and Netherlands/Belgium 50-1.

Meanwhile at a ceremony in Doha, the Qatar Petrochemical Company entered the Guinness Book of Records for the largest T-shirt ever made at a ceremony in Doha, measuring 72.2 metres long and 48.7 metres wide, arguably the most outrageous of all publicity stunts organised by bid contenders.

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