Doha to Continue Impressing World on Thursday by Hosting FIFA Congress for 2nd Time

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

Doha will be the capital of global sport par excellence, and the focus of the world's attention, as it hosts on Thursday the 72nd FIFA Congress meeting at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC), a day before the Final Draw for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, that will take place on Friday at 7:00 pm local time, and which football fans around the world await.

The name of Qatar became associated with sports in the past few years. It is not possible to refer to sports in the Middle East and Asia without mentioning the State of Qatar after it established itself as a hub for sports and athletes from all over the world and a reference in sports excellence until Doha became the capital of world sports in a few years. Now it is preparing to prove this position, which it deserved with distinction by hosting the FIFA Congress for the second time after 2003, when it witnessed the work of the Extraordinary FIFA Congress, as the first Arab country to host this event, during which many important decisions were taken.

Just as the previous meeting (2003) came out with a set of pivotal decisions, the most prominent of which is the amendment of the laws of the International Federation to allow young players who hold dual citizenship to change the team for which they play, it is expected that tomorrow's meeting will come out with benefits in the interest of football in the world.

The Congress will preceded by the meeting of the FIFA Council, which will be held on Wednesday evening. The Council will have important reports and decisions on its agenda, as many decisions will be approved regarding the participation of Russian teams in FIFA competitions, in addition to the temporary amendment of the regulations on the status and transfer of players in the exceptional circumstances imposed by the war in Ukraine, as well as the temporary amendment of the regulations regarding the transfer status of players located in regions experiencing instability to be with their national teams. The Development Committee will also review the remote office meeting held on March 1, 2022 and the report of the Organizing Committee for matters related to FIFA competitions and amendments to the women's international match calendar 2020-2023 and amendments to the regulations on the status of player transfers.

As for the 72nd FIFA Congress, which will be held on Thursday, it will include in its program many points, most notably the adoption of the agenda, the adoption of the minutes of the 71st FIFA Congress that was held on May 21, 2021 online, discussion of the annual report and many financial reports and activities in 2021 and voting on them, in addition to voting on proposals to amend the Statutes and Regulations Governing the Application of the Statues of the Congress and discussing proposals submitted by Member Associations and the Council during the period provided for in Article 28 of the FIFA Statutes.

Qatar seeks tomorrow to write its name in letters of gold in the records of sports in the world. Having succeeded in hosting the most important and prominent international sporting events such as the 2019 World Athletics Championships, Formula 1 races, and the FIFA Arab Cup last year, it is looking forward to continue to reap successes by hosting the 72nd FIFA Congress tomorrow, a day before the World Cup finals draw, which is hosted in the Middle East for the first time in its history and is followed by football fans around the world.

The 72nd FIFA Congress and the draw ceremony will witness exceptional media coverage, as a media center was established at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center, which opened its doors today and will continue until April 1, 2022, for all accredited media. FIFA also provides a mixed area for the media after the draw, amid global interest in learning about the matches of the World Cup, which will be hosted by Qatar from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18, 2022.

The process of accrediting media representatives wishing to cover the final draw for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has been very popular.

With the arrival of the draw ceremony, fans and the participating teams will know their path towards the title, as it will be clear to 29 of the 32 teams participating in the tournament, which groups they will compete in, and their path to the final of the tournament. Therefore, everyone will be looking forward to the draw ceremony, which will reveal the confrontations of the qualified teams, with great interest before the second phase of the ticketing process for the World Cup Qatar matches, which will immediately follow the draw. 

Sports fans around the world will wait for the three teams that have not yet qualified for the World Cup, which are the two teams that will qualify from the two crucial continental matches (Asia - South America /CONCACAF - Oceania), in addition to the team that will qualify from the European play-off to participate in the World Cup 2022. On June 13 and 14, Qatar will host the crucial match between the representative of the Asian continent and the fifth-ranked team in the South American qualifiers to reserve the qualification for the World Cup, as well as the play-off between the fourth-placed in the Confederation of North, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) qualifiers and the qualifying team from the Oceania Confederation to win a seat in the upcoming World Cup, according to the draw held on Nov. 26, 2021.

The last team to join the World Cup will be determined with the end of the European qualifiers for the World Cup between May and June 2022, as stated in the decision of the FIFA Organizing Committee Bureau on March 8, 2022.

The first sales phase of the World Cup tickets ordering process witnessed an unprecedented turnout in the history of the World Cup. More than 17 million tickets were requested, and the number of requests for tickets for the final match at Lusail Stadium on Dec.18, 2022, reached 1.8 million tickets for the conclusion of the first edition of the World Cup in the Arab world and the Middle East. The only match that one of its sides is determined is the opening match that the Qatari team is playing, waiting to get to know the second team at the draw ceremony. Consequently, there was a huge turnout for the opening match scheduled for Al Bayt World Cup Stadium, which can accommodate 60,000 fans.

Fans within the State of Qatar demonstrated their great passion and enthusiasm for hosting the World Cup in Qatar, as they were the most who applied for match tickets, as well as many countries of the world such as Argentina, Brazil, England, France, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.

Qatar's hosting of the World Cup is an important opportunity for cooperation between all countries and participation in a historic event that attracts attention from around the world.

This exceptional edition of the World Cup, which is being held for the first time in the Arab world and the region also provides a unique platform to introduce the world to Qatar and the Arab world and to allow fans to discover the real meaning of hospitality for which Qataris and Arabs are famous.

Since Qatar won the right to host the World Cup, it began to construct and equip eight World Cup stadiums and training sites in preparation for hosting an impressive edition of the World Cup, and it succeeded in its construction ahead of schedule.

A few months away from the start of the global event, the focus now is on ensuring the complete readiness of all the facilities of the tournament and providing an enjoyable and easy experience for fans coming to Qatar to attend the matches, as they can book accommodation through a single online portal that provides them with several affordable options.

The close distances in Qatar will also reflect positively on the experience of the participants, including players and fans, as well as the advanced transportation options available to the masses, which include the modern metro network, highways, and electric buses.

As part of its commitment to sustainability and environmental protection during the preparation of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy has implemented many projects and measures to enhance continuous efforts to build a sustainable legacy that will reflect on the country's future after the World Cup competitions.

The FIFA Arab Cup, hosted by Qatar at the end of last year, represented an ideal opportunity to advance the preparations for hosting the FIFA World Cup at the end of this year as many key features in terms of sustainability and environmental protection have emerged and work continues to build on and enhance them in the World Cup Qatar 2022, leaving the World Cup as a sustainable legacy for future generations.

(QNA)