UHY GLOBAL JANUARY 2023 ALL AROUND THE WORLD
A WORLD CUP WITH WIDER GOALS
Qatar 2022 involved a record World Cup financial outlay. But the vast sums invested in infrastructure are also aimed at a future beyond football The Qatar World Cup has been a festival of both football and firsts – the first time the world’s premier sporting event has been hosted in the Middle East, and the first time by a Muslim country. Qatar is also the smallest nation ever to host the competition, and the first to stage the tournament during a northern hemisphere winter. To put it another way, Qatar 2022 was a World Cup like no other, and the uniqueness of the event has been apparent since the moment the state’s successful bid to host the tournament was announced. A LONG-TERM STRATEGY In 2010, Qatar had little footballing history and virtually no World Cup facilities. Today, it has hosted the world’s most watched celebration of sport, which speaks volumes about the scale of the country’s ambitions and the strength of its resolve. It also reaffirms the appeal of hosting the Word Cup for nations that want to advertise themselves to the world in spectacular fashion. That is certainly true of Qatar, which can boast yet another first. The country has spent an estimated USD 220bn since 2010 on stadiums and infrastructure, a huge amount even by World Cup standards. An initial economic boost from the tournament of around USD 20bn is expected. While this might suggest a huge deficit, Moamen Elsalawy, partner at Qatari member firm UHY Ammo & Co, explains short-term financial gain is not the goal. “Qatar's hosting of the World Cup is designed to have a positive impact on the whole of the Middle East and all Arab countries, because it will shed light on the Arab and Islamic cultures in the region,” he says. “It will be an opportunity for millions of people to visit the region and to be introduced to ancient Arab and Islamic civilisation. “The World Cup will also provide a strong boost for attracting foreign investment and promoting the State of Qatar, and it will reflect positively on the country's future as an investment and tourism destination that is capable of rising to any challenge.” NATIONAL VISION The aim of Qatar’s World Cup organisers was always to create a positive image of the country and the region that would linger for generations. And while USD 220bn is a lot of money to spend for a ‘feelgood factor’, most of it would probably have been spent anyway because the tournament is part of the Qatar National Vision project. This initiative aims to transform the country into an “advanced society capable of sustaining its development and providing a high standard of living for its people”. To that end, the vast majority of the money invested since 2010 has gone on hotels, cultural centres, startup hubs and transport links, rather than football stadiums. The need to comfortably host, entertain and move 1.2 million visitors for the month-long tournament may have hastened some of these projects along, but they are clearly investments for the long term. One example is the innovative M7 building, a futuristic five-storey construction in downtown Doha described as an “epicentre for innovation and entrepreneurship in design, fashion and technology”. Then there are the 76km and 37 stations of the Doha Metro, the country’s first partially underground rail system, and Stadium 974, the first ‘fully demountable’ stadium in World Cup history. VIBRANT CENTRES After the tournament, Moamen says the sporting infrastructure that remains will be put to good use: “The stadiums and the surrounding areas will turn into vibrant centres of community life, forming one of the most important pillars of the World Cup legacy. Qatar is working to build facilities and infrastructure for the benefit of future generations.” That is the crux of the matter. Qatar has spent vast sums for a relatively small financial return. But the World Cup is part of a much wider plan to diversify and rejuvenate the economy of the oil and gas-dependent nation. While Qatar’s huge infrastructure investments were designed for hosting a spectacular World Cup, they will continue to drive new technology, tourism, design and sports sectors, and nurture an ambitious entrepreneurial class. WORLD CUP COSTS Looking back over recent decades, attendance at the World Cup has remained fairly consistent. With peaks in Brazil in 2014 (3.44 million) and the USA in 1994 (3.57 million), host countries have welcomed at least 2.5 million local and international fans since 1990. But what of the cost? As our infographic shows, host nations have invested huge sums to ensure success. In 2014, Brazil more than doubled the previous highest expenditure (Korea and Japan in 2002/USD 7bn) with an investment of USD 15bn. With an outlay more than 14 times this amount, however, Qatar 2022 is easily the most expensive World Cup so far.
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