(MENAFN- The Peninsula) khalid elsawi |
The Peninsula
Doha: Qatar Press Centre (QPC) and Qatar Media Corporation (QMC) organised a seminar titled 'FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: Idea, Legacy, and Sustainability” at the Katara Cultural Village yesterday.
In his inaugural speech, QPC President Saad bin Mohammed Al Rumaihi highlighted the great success that Qatar achieved through its hosting of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the first in the region, which made all Arabs proud.
He stressed that the mega sporting event was one of the most successful tournaments organised in the history of FIFA World Cup, in addition to the young talents who were able to contribute to organising one of the best editions of the tournament.
Al Rumaihi said that what has been achieved will constitute a great incentive for Doha to continue to provide excellence in hosting major sporting events.
Qatar Media Corporation CEO H E Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Thani Al Thani honoured participants of the seminar.
QMC CEO H E Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Thani bin Khalid Al Thani (first right) and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the State of Qatar H H Prince Mansour bin Khalid bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud (second right) during the event.
Director of Media Development Department at QMC, Sheikh Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, has lauded Qatar Press Centre for holding fruitful events and activities to serve the people and the country.
Sheikh Khalid said the seminar reflected QPC's endeavour to enrich the community with discussions that bring together officials with the public. Sheikh Khalid, in a statement, said that the event benefited from the legacy of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, providing a solid foundation for hosting major sporting events and tournaments in the future. He noted that QPC played a role in refuting lies about the World Cup by some sections of media in the West.
Sheikh Khalid added that the discussions provided by QPC on public issues such as the World Cup contributed to the advancement of journalism and media and strengthened its position inside and outside Qatar. He called for the continuation of such talks between the public and decision-makers to discuss societal issues to raise awareness and provide recommendations and proposals that support the institutional efforts in the country.
Sheikh Khalid also praised QPC's recent issuance of press releases touching on Arab issues, such as the Palestine issue, and showing solidarity with the Palestinian people against Israeli violations.
He hoped the Centre's activities will increase in the coming days by holding events and activities that advance the press and media in the country.
The seminar was moderated by Khalid Jassim, a sports journalist for Al Kass TV, who was joined by Jassim Abdulaziz Al Jassim, Chief Operating Officer for FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022; Major Hamad Al Ali, from the Tournament Security Force; Abdullah Ali, Vice-President for Hamad International Airport Passenger Terminal; Najla Al Jaber, President of Land Transport Systems and Policies at the Ministry of Transport; and Engineer Badr Darwish, Director of the Highway Projects Department at Public Works Authority (Ashghal).
Al Jassim said Qatar was insistent the moment it received the right to host the World Cup that it would not just be a 28 or 29 day championship that would just come and go and Qatar as a country would not benefit from the tournament. From the get go, Qatar had focused on the tournament's legacy.
Editor in Chief of The Peninsula, Dr. Khalid Mubarak Al Shafi (second right); Editor-in-Chief of Al Arab, Abdullah Talib Al Marri (left); Editor-in-Chief of Lusail, Mohamed Hajji (second left) and Director of Public Relations Department at the Ministry of Interior Brig. Abdulla Khalifa Al Muftah (right), during the seminar at Katara yesterday.
The legacy was not just a number of stadiums that would be built but in terms of infrastructure, the airport, the roads, and transport.
“There was special preparation on our part for there to be a community legacy for the tournament. Some of the examples being how the Al Bayt stadium became a“breathing area for families” in Al Khor and how the Al Thumama stadium, built in the middle of a residential area, has been utilised to a great extent even after the tournament.”
The human legacy” to Al Jassim was the most important of them all. The experts that piled up during this tournament and the tournaments before it have helped in the organisation of this event and its predecessors in a way that we have found very satisfactory. We at the legacy committee see the human aspect as a sustained legacy.
In regards to the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2023, he assured that Qatar is fully ready to host the championship, attributing some of this readiness to the World Cup 2022 preparedness.
Major. Hamad Al Ali of the security committee said that preparations were based on several axes, foremost of which was the security preparation for facilities which had been in effect ever since 2009. Most of these preparations were laid down with the higher committee for projects.
President of Qatar Press Center, Saad bin Mohammed Al Rumaihi (centre), Director of Media Development Department at QMC, Sheikh Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Thani (right) and Katara General Manager, Prof. Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti during the event. Pics: Rajan Vadakkemuriyil
The second axis revolved around the formation of special human cadres for the tournament. To do so, young Qatari security cadres were involved in many global experiences such as the 2014 Brazil World Cup, the 2018 Russia World Cup, the Asian cup, and the many tournaments held on Qatari soil in preparation for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 grand stage. Only through doing so could a security understanding that was unique to Qatar be developed.
Speakng of the Hayya card, he said legacy of the Hayya card was that it became the facilitator for the tourism advertisement for Qatar, and had made managing the crowds entering Qatar at stadiums and transport points much smoother. However, the role of Hayya card for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2023 will be limited to“permission to enter the country”.
In response to Khalid Jassim's question regarding what the action plan was when they had realised that their airport would have to accommodate a mass influx of people pouring in from every corner of the globe for the tournament, Abdullah Ali said:“To us as a legacy, we aimed at training all our employees according to what the airport needs. The Doha airport was renovated entirely to help accommodate as many passengers as possible.”
He revealed that preparations for the tournament had taken place 8 or 9 years before the tournament. Most preparations were experimental, operational, with meetings and workshops also being included. The premier day of the championship saw 48,000 arrivals into Doha.
Doha airport, non-functional at the moment, would also always be on standby in case Qatar ever required.
Dignitaries and participants during the seminar on FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, at Katara yesterday.
Najla Al Jaber, from the Ministry of Transport, said that infrastructural preparation was the first long-term goal being looked into by the State of Qatar.“If you were to look into the timeline on any online map, from 2010 to present day, you would be able to observe a qualitative shift in that timeline. The time taken to reach several destinations in the country has undergone a noticeable change.”
The close proximity of everything has given fans the ability to go watch four World Cup matches on the same day through the use of public or other means of transport.
“The two farthest stadiums are at most 40 minutes apart,” she said.
The Ministry was keen on complementing elements of infrastructural preparations by making sure that all transport means would be provided for all, a legacy which could be carried into the future to guarantee comfort for commuters in using the means of transport in a more facilitated, flexible way.
Public transport witnessed an increase in its capabilities which further allowed things like Metro trains to serve commuters in no more than three minutes average waiting time per station. The ministry also gained insight by having visited Russia and looked into how it handled transport during the 2018 World Cup.
In terms of buses, the ministry was able to achieve environmental sustainability goals with the World Cup having been the first global carbon-neutral championship.“Emissions were very little considering that 25% of the buses operating during the championship were electri-powered.”
Najla Al Jaber said that the ministry plans to fully convert its buses to clean energy by 2030.
Many challenges awaited the Highway Projects Department at Ashghal, which was always aiming for the highest standards when working on projects. World-renowned companies were contracted to exclusively look into matters as a way of guaranteeing top performance.
“Many of the networks, roads, systems, and the infrastructure required for the tournament, and after it for future generations, had to be of the highest quality,” said Badr Darwish, Director of Highway Projects Department.
“Today we speak of a specific standard [that we set to meet]. This was the prime reason for why we [Qatar] were distinguished World Cup hosts, as people witnessed it first-hand. We made sure to uphold the highest standards in everything.”
According to him, the state had other benefits from these infrastructure projects that went beyond the projects themselves.“The size of these works reflects on the local market and enhances economic activity.”