By Tom Degun at the Aspire Dome in Doha
November 16 – The Supreme Committee for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has confirmed that all 12 stadiums for the event will be ready by the 2021 Confederations Cup, clearing the way for the competition to be held in either the summer or the winter.
With soaring summer temperatures in Qatar that can reach over 50 degrees, calls are growing for the country to stage the 2022 World Cup in winter.
The calls come despite the fact that Qatar’s bid was designed to stage the event in summer using the country’s revolutionary cooling technology to keep stadiums and fan zones at a low temperature in the heat.
But the Qatar 2022 technical director Yasir Al-Jamal has revealed that all the venues will be ready for the 2021 Confederations Cup – the warm-up event for the World Cup – and therefore the country will be ready to host the competition whatever date FIFA decide on.
“Our plans will not be affected even if there is a switch and the World Cup is held in winter,” he said here at the Aspire4Sport Conference.
“We planned for the summer but we will be ready whatever happens.
“All of venues for the World Cup will be ready and completed by the Confederations Cup in 2021 so if there is a switch in date, it will not matter because we will be ready.
“But this was a summer bid and we are planning for the summer.
“We have all the technology in place to host a summer World Cup in Qatar.
“We will leave it up to FIFA and the international authorities about when the event should be held.
“If it is changed, we will do as we are requested and move it to winter.
“But right now, the event will be held in summer.”
The Qatar 2022 marketing and communications director Nasser Al Khater (pictured above) has also moved to calm fears that the fans will have little to do in the country if the competition is held in the summer.
“Our cooling technology is not exclusive to the stadiums,” he said.
“You will see people out and about during a summer World Cup in Qatar because we will create cooling areas for them.
“So that is not a concern.”
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