June 22 – Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organisers have unveiled the name and design for another of its proposed World Cup stadia – a 60,000-capacity venue in Al Khor which is scheduled to stage a semi-final and is due to be completed in 2018.
The new stadium has a modular design, which includes an upper tier of removable seats. After the tournament, capacity of the stadium will be reduced to 32,000 with the removed seats donated to other countries as part of Qatar’s World Cup legacy.
The stadium and surrounding precinct will officially be known as Al Bayt, Al Khor City, and will incorporate community facilities.
In the wake of constant publicity over Qatar’s human rights record and with FIFA closely monitoring the situation, organisers were at pains to point out that construction will be carried out in alignment with improved welfare standards.
Hassan Al Thawadi, secretary-general of the Supreme committee, said: “The launch of Al Bayt Stadium & Precinct will honour Qatar’s past while fully embracing the country’s global future. The launch of the design for our second proposed stadium for the 2022 FIFA World Cup is another milestone of progress, demonstrating our deep commitment to delivering an amazing experience in 2022 and beyond.”
The number of stadia being used for 2022 is still under debate. Qatar originally projected 12 but there is increasing speculation that, given the size of the country and how many stadiums it might need after the tournament, it could end up with eight.
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