March 13 – The 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar that was played January 12 to February 11 this year broke just about every AFC record in the book, from attendances to broadcast coverage.
A total of 86,492 spectators made the trip to the Lusail Stadium for the Asian Cup final, which saw the hosts lift their second consecutive Asian Cup trophy after triumphing in the UAE in 2019.
A record-breaking attendance of 1,509,496 fans went to matches, surpassing the previous attendance record of 1.04 million set during the 2004 edition hosted by China.
The country’s tourism sector also reported 905,200 visitors over the course of the tournament – 44% arriving via air travel, 44% via the land crossing and 12% via sea ports.
Doha’s modern metro service was in full flight, ferrying over 6 million passengers during the competition. The metro, which was originally built to help the city’s hectic traffic cope with the influx of tourists during the 2022 World Cup, lies virtually dormant during everyday life in Doha but comes alive as the city hosts sporting events.
The 2023 edition of the Asian Cup also attracted the widest television coverage in the history of the tournament, with matches broadcast by 60 television networks from more than 160 countries.
The AFC say that more than 3,000 accredited media from 55 countries played a key role in sharing stories from the pitch with the rest of the world.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, chairman of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Local Organising Committee (LOC), said: “Once again, Qatar has proven its ability to host the world’s best sporting events. Over a span of one month, Qatar welcomed Asia’s best players as well as hundreds of thousands of fans from across the continent. What we witnessed was a festival like atmosphere that celebrated different cultures while treating fans to wonderful displays on the pitch.”
The statistics were unveiled just one day after the AFC announced it had reached almost 8 billion digital impressions across the tournament duration, cementing an impressive campaign for the AFC.
Contact the writer of this story, harry Ewing, at moc.l1732319235labto1732319235ofdlr1732319235owedi1732319235sni@g1732319235niwe.1732319235yrrah1732319235
