By Andrew Warshaw
February 3 – Qatar World Cup organisers are in England this week as part of a fact-finding trip designed to boost trade relations between the two countries ahead of the 2022 tournament.
Both sides are playing down the week-long visit, led by Qatari World Cup chief Hassan al-Thawadi. But the visiting delegation, which includes a number of different stakeholders, is understood to be visiting several venues including Wembley, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and English football’s state-of-art national football centre at St. George’s Park as well as meeting officials involved in the 2012 London Olympics.
Last week, Qatar’s World Cup organising committee was officially established and the delegation is believed to be particularly keen to acquire as much knowledge and information as possible about stadium design as part of its nation-building concept.
It is not clear whether the Qataris requested the visit or whether the invitation came from English authorities eager to become business partners as 2022 organisers step up the process of putting construction contracts out for tender.
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