Farhan Al Sheikh Al Sayed
President of Walking Football Qatar Farhan Al Sheikh Al Sayed has lauded the legacy impact of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, while stressing Qatar’s readiness to host a historic tournament.
Al Sayed, who also serves as International Walking Football Federation (IWFF) Asia president, said since Qatar won the bid for the World Cup, the country has gone through a meteoric development phase across all sectors, which aligns with the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Since winning the hosting rights in 2010, Qatar has emphasised that the tournament is about inspiring a generation and showing possibilities to people in Qatar and the Arab World. With less than 80 days left to the World Cup, all eight venues, seven of them newly built, are ready for the World Cup. Authorities have constantly reiterated that the infrastructure developed is world-class and will assist social change in the country and beyond.
“We are so lucky to have sporting leadership, who has always said yes to any international sporting events,” Al Sayed told The Peninsula.
“If not for the visionary mind of the leadership, we couldn’t have achieved this. They believed that Qatar would do it, and this belief has encouraged a lot of locals to become creative, both men and women. You can see this development was not there if you go back 10 to 20 years. The locals have taken inspiration from the leadership, and it’s all positive returns. Even the expatriate community enjoys the fruits of this development and the journey.”
Al Sayed said Qatar’s credentials as a global sports capital have been tested over the last two decades, and the country has consistently proven capable. Al Sayed added that post-World Cup, Qatar will continue its development and growth with more events on the agenda.
“Qatar is the host of all these major international sporting events, world-class events, which makes it a hot spot as a world sports capital, starting from the 2006 Asian games to the 2030 Asian Games, which Qatar will host again. Post-World Cup will be robust growth because we have the expertise now — not just international expertise, but also local,” he noted.
Qatar estimates around 1.5 million fans will attend the football fiesta.
FIFA recently disclosed that it had sold 2.45 million tickets for the World Cup. Approximately 500,000 seats are still available and will be available at the end of September for the final stage of match tickets. According to an official, around 260,000 Hayya fan ID cards have been issued to ticketholders. Al Sayed believes the expatriate community will play a massive role in making the tournament successful and hosting visiting fans.
“We have a dynamic collection of expatriates here. I always say that when an expatriate does good in their community, they are doing a service to Qatar also. This is what I expect from the community during the World Cup.”
