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Qatar will host the most expensive World Cup in history. There is nothing surprising in this fact, after all, the tournament takes place in a non-poor Middle Eastern country. But it is not the fact of the record itself that is striking, but the order of the numbers: it is officially announced that the cost of the championship amounted to 220 billion dollars. For comparison: according to various sources, Russia spent from 11.6 to 14.2 billion dollars on the previous World Cup 2018 – 15-20 times less. This amount includes six modern stadiums built from scratch, a quality organization that even British journalists had no questions about. What could such incredible money be spent on in Qatar.
Denis Puzyrev counted the sheikhs’ money.
Let’s go back to that amount – $220 billion. She is simply mesmerizing. In terms of rubles, this is 13.3 trillion. Exactly half of Russia’s annual budget and practically the equivalent of Russia’s entire National Wealth Fund (NWF) – an airbag built up in an era of high oil prices. Based on market capitalization, this is an amount that exceeds the combined value of Gazprom, Rosneft and Sberbank. And the Russian government planned to spend exactly the same amount in 2023-2027 on the construction of 4 thousand kilometers of roads.
How can you spend so much money on football.
The budget for preparations for the 2022 World Cup included infrastructure projects not directly related to football. It was the same in Russia
The amounts that the host country plans to spend on the World Cup are announced at the application stage. An important element is the presence of guarantees from the bid committee that this money will be allocated and spent on the infrastructure necessary for the successful holding of the World Cup.
The concept of “necessary infrastructure” can be Interpreted by the organizer as broadly as possible. In addition to the stadiums necessary for holding matches, which must meet FIFA requirements for capacity, safety and comfort, the organizers include in the budget spending on a variety of facilities that will be built or reconstructed in the cities where the championship games will be held. And these expenses can exceed estimates for the construction of sports arenas.
For example, Russia’s expenses on stadiums for the 2018 World Cup amounted to about 200 billion rubles – 29.4% of all money spent on preparations for the tournament. The largest expenditure item is the construction of transport infrastructure, 352.5 billion rubles – 52% of the budget for preparations for the World Cup.
A significant share in it was occupied by the construction and reconstruction of airports. So, a new airport “Platov” was opened in Rostov. Probably, it would have been built without the World Cup – the first project was presented at the economic forum back in 2006, and Russia received the right to host the World Cup only in 2010. However, the airport was included in the target preparation program for the World Cup, as it improved the transport accessibility of Rostov, one of the cities where the championship matches were held. And the training budget due to him increased by 37 billion rubles, half was invested by the Airports of the Regions company of Viktor Vekselberg.
The preparation program for the World Cup in Russia also included the reconstruction of the Volokolamsk highway in Moscow (increased the transport accessibility of the Spartak stadium), the construction of the Novokrestovskaya metro station (now renamed Zenit), the construction of a section of the Makarov embankment with a bridge to Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg. In other cities, the preparation program for the World Cup included the repair of facades of houses, the purchase of new buses and ambulances, etc.
An important point is that the amount indicated in the application of potential organizers can be adjusted. In 2010, the Russian bid organizing committee was going to spend $20 billion. However, then this amount was reduced – partly due to the devaluation of the ruble, partly due to the rejection of some items of the original application. For example, a new media center was deleted from the plans. It was placed in the already built Crocus-Expo complex. They refused to spend the federal budget on a large-scale reconstruction of storm sewers, pumping stations and sewers. The program for the construction of new hotels was curtailed – it was supposed to be taken over by private investors, but there were few who wanted to.
As a result, according to RBC estimates, the total cost of preparing for the World Cup in Russia amounted to $14.2 billion.
The budget for the 2022 World Cup included all the costs of modernizing Qatar
The amount of expenses for preparation for the World Cup in Qatar was formed according to the same principle as in Russia. True, adjusted for a much grander scale. The construction of 8 stadiums (seven from scratch, plus one large-scale reconstruction of the Luzhniki type) cost the organizers $6.5 billion, about 3% of the announced budget.And they still managed to save money – initially the construction of the arenas was estimated at 8-10 billion dollars.
The rest of the money was spent on infrastructure projects. All of them are part of the state program Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV) adopted in 2008 – a strategy for national development and modernization of Qatar. The goal of the program is “to transform Qatar into an advanced society capable of achieving sustainable development by 2030.” QNV is divided into four major parts. The economic one provides for the transition of the country from the raw-material model of economic development to the “knowledge economy”. The Human Development section is devoted to improving the quality of education and healthcare.
The environmental part describes the introduction of advanced technologies to reduce environmental pollution. And the social part of the program, in addition to preserving the cultural heritage and promoting family values, provides for the popularization of sports in the country. Hosting the World Cup is one of the important components of the QNV, which will, on the one hand, increase Interest in sports in Qatar, and, on the other hand, will show the world the achievements of the country on the way to fundamental changes.
Therefore, the Qatari authorities reasoned that all the projects that are being implemented as part of the QNV implementation are part of the preparation for the World Cup, which means that the costs for them are, among other things, the costs of organizing the World Cup. Hence the gigantic sum of $220 billion.
The inclusion of the World Cup in the country’s global modernization program also has a purely practical meaning: when facilities are being built for a major event of national importance with clear dates, contractors have no chance of delaying the deadlines. This was the case in Russia (who knows how many years the Gazprom Arena would have been built if it were not for the Confederations Cup and the World Cup), this is also happening in Qatar. And the organizing committee of the 2022 World Cup recognizes this.
“Most of the large infrastructure projects that teams and fans will benefit from in 2022, such as new roads, metro, airport, hotels and other tourist facilities, were planned even before we received the right to host the World Cup. These projects would have come to fruition anyway, however the Football Cup has certainly accelerated all these developments so that the country can host the 1.5 million fans we expect in 2022,” said Fatma Al, Chief Communications Officer of the 2022 World Cup. – Nuaimi
A new unmanned subway, a giant airport, an expressway system, a deep-sea port and a city of the future. For the World Cup, the authorities of Qatar remade the country
The list of facilities that have already been built in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup is impressive. The metro in Doha (the capital of the country) was launched in 2019. There are currently 37 stations and three of the four planned lines of 76 km in operation. Passengers are served by ultra-modern unmanned trains with speeds up to 107 km/h. The construction of the subway cost the country more than $40 billion.
By the way, there was no practical need for Qatar to build a subway – the country’s population mainly travels by private vehicles. However, the environmental part of QNV provides that by 2030, 20% of Qataris will switch to public transport.
Another big project is the Hamad International airport, opened in 2014 ($16 billion). Its predecessor – Qatar International Airport – was not bad and was included in the ratings of the best airports in the world, but did not meet the increased ambitions of the Qataris. It could receive up to 12 million passengers a year. New – up to 60 million people. For comparison, the record passenger traffic of the largest Russian airport Sheremetyevo in 2018 amounted to 46 million people.
To ensure the supply of building materials, Qatar opened a new port of Hamad in 2016 ($7.5 billion), which is capable of handling 7.8 million containers per year. To do this, the bottom was deepened to 17 meters – the bay in the Doha region is rather shallow, and large container ships could not enter Qatar before. Cargo destined for the country was unloaded in neighboring UAE and then delivered to Qatar by smaller vessels. Now this logistical problem does not exist, and a large cruise terminal is being built in the port, which will receive giant tourist ships. During the World Cup, Qatar chartered several of these liners to solve an acute problem with the accommodation of fans.
The Doha Expressway ($8 billion) was completed in Qatar for the World Cup, a new road network for Doha and its suburbs. The total length of new roads was 800 km, 95 Interchanges were built, including 200 bridges, 90 underpasses and 50 tunnels. The whole new road system is equipped with an intelligent monitoring and control system. In addition to roads, 450 km of pedestrian sidewalks and bicycle paths were built.But the main expenditure part of the 2022 World Cup budget is the construction of the new city of Lusail on the site of a small village north of Doha. Showsport has already spoken about this project.
According to its parameters – 37 square kilometers, 250 thousand people of the permanent population – a copy of Zelenograd, which is part of Moscow. However, this is where the similarity ends. Lusail was built as a city of the future, designed to maximize the comfort of residents and tourists and minimize harm to the environment. It is in Lusail that the final match of the 2022 World Cup will be held at the 80,000-seat Lusail Iconic stadium. After the completion of the World Cup, it should become a competitor to Dubai – a home for tens of thousands of highly qualified foreign specialists, a place where the headquarters of International companies will be located, and a world-class resort.
The exact cost of Lusail is unknown. In 2014, at the start of the project, the Qatari authorities called the amount of 45 billion dollars. The American edition of Bloomberg is sure that since then the budget of the city of the future has grown significantly, and they estimate the total cost of all infrastructure projects for the World Cup at $ 300 billion.
However, Qatar’s record may not last long. If the 2030 World Cup is given to joint bidders Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Greece, the declared costs are likely to be even higher. It will be a matter of honor for the Saudis to surpass Qatar, with which they have an uneasy relationship. In addition, as many as four new cities are being built right now in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, including the new Egyptian capital of Vedian and the Saudi version of the city of the future Neom. And Saudi Arabia is implementing its own modernization plan for the country, called Saudi Vision 2030.
This Story First Appeared At Showsport
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