With 365 days to go for the next edition of the FIFA World Cup, set in Qatar, the host country has unveiled its latest stadium, the seventh it has built for the event, Stadium 974.
A 40,000-capacity arena made from shipping containers, it is meant to echo Doha’s maritime history. The number 974 is Qatar’s international calling code.
Previously known as the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, it’s the seventh venue to be declared tournament ready by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy. Only one more venue, Lusail, remains to be declared, with Khalifa International, Al Janoub, Education City, Ahmad Bin Ali, Al Bayt and Al Thumama already unveiled.
The committee says the stadium’s modular design led to fewer building materials being required than what is used in traditional stadium building. It will be fully dismantled after the completion of the World Cup.
This will be the first FIFA World Cup to be held in the Middle East.
Qatar ha sought to make each stadium unique, with Khalifa International Stadium (capacity 40,000) getting a revamp, Al Janoub Stadium built in the shape of a traditional dhow boat, Education City Stadium built with diamond-esque geometrical patterns, Al Bayt Stadium resembling a tent, Al Rayyan Stadium built to resemble sand dunes, and Al Thumama Stadium built in the likeness of the gahfiya, a traditional woven cap worn in the region.
In 2017, Qatar’s finance minister said the country was spending $500 million a week on World Cup-related construction.
The construction accompanied a significant human cost: Amnesty International estimated that 6,500 migrant workers died in the country since the World Cup was announced, most of them from South Asia. Another recent report by Amnesty claimed Qatar’s labour reforms had failed to change working conditions, which Qatar has rejected.
The controversies have resulted in blowback.
On Thursday the Danish Football Association told BBC Sport that Denmark will put extra pressure on FIFA over human rights concerns ahead of the Qatar World Cup.
Denmark's sponsors will withdraw their logos from training uniforms, BBC Sport reported, to make space for messages critical of Qatar. Commercial partners will also not travel to the World Cup. Soccer fans from German giant Bayern Munich urged the club to cut ties with Qatar's national airline.
With inputs from PTI