The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy has awarded HBK Contracting Company the enabling works contract for Al Wakrah stadium, the first proposed host venue to be delivered ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The contract was awarded through a tender process designed to attract Qatari contractors with local knowledge and proven capability in delivering the required services, as part of the Supreme Committee’s legacy initiative to develop the private sector.

The enabling works phase begins in May and is due for completion by around March 2015. During this period, HBK will deliver bulk earthworks including site clearance, excavation and disposal, fill, as well as underground services and stadium foundations. The foundation works will be marked by a ceremony in September.

The main construction company for the stadium will be announced at the end of 2014. The successful candidate for this tender will partner with a local business, in line with the Supreme Committee’s effort to boost the expansion of the Qatar economy.

“We are excited to announce the next stage of works for Al Wakrah Stadium and look forward to continued progress on the ground this year,” said Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy. “The stadium and surrounding precinct will leave a social legacy in Al Wakrah and by appointing HBK, a Qatari company, we aim to also contribute to the economic legacy of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.”

H.E. Sheikh Ali Bin Hamad K. Al-Thani, President of HBK, said: “We are honoured and excited to be appointed by the Supreme Committee as the contractor for this critical first phase of works on the road to the FIFA World Cup in 2022, and look forward to working closely with all stakeholders to help build the first World Cup in the Middle East and achieve our country’s ambitions.  We thank the Supreme Committee for giving us this opportunity to be involved in this most celebrated journey.”

The 40,000-seat stadium, future home of Al Wakrah Sports Club, was the first of Qatar’s FIFA World Cup proposed venues to be revealed. The stadium will be surrounded by approximately 560,000 m2 (60-hectare) of legacy precinct with a new sports centre and community hub. The precinct will deliver a range of community facilities, including a park, mosque, school, hotel, wedding hall, vocational training centre and retail outlets. 

Following the tournament, the stadium’s capacity will be reduced to 20,000 with the extra modular seats removed, re-configured and donated to countries in need of sporting infrastructure, in consultation with FIFA and the continental football confederations.

After an initial inspection during the tendering process of the facility where the HBK workers on the Al Wakrah project will be housed, HBK confirmed their commitment to adhere to the Supreme Committee's Workers’ Welfare Standards, working closely with representatives of the Workers’ Welfare Committee to ensure that the health, safety and dignity of workers on the project are further protected.

Farah Al-Muftah, Chairwoman of the Workers’ Welfare Committee, said: “We started a dialogue with HBK on our expectation for workers welfare during the tendering process and we are encouraged by the company’s commitment to creating a healthy and safe environment for workers on the Al Wakrah Stadium project.”

The number of stadiums that will feature in the 2022 World Cup still hangs in the balance and will not be finalised until next year, according to Nasser Al Khater, executive director for marketing at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy.

It has been widely reported that Qatar plans to drastically scale down its ambitious venue plans for the 2022 World Cup. These reports were sparked by comments made by the Supreme Committee’s senior manager for projects at a conference on 23rd April, who stated that only eight stadiums would be used. 

With the Supreme Committee having neither discounted this possibility nor given reasons why cutting back to eight stadiums might be an option, the international sports event community has come up with its own suggestions, with cost control being considered to be a possible motivation.

Addressing such “speculation”, Al Khater said “That’s not true actually.”

Speaking to delegates at Soccerex Asian Forum on Tuesday, he said “In our bid, as FIFA stipulates, we proposed a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 18.”

The minimum number of stadiums required by FIFA is eight and this figure remains a possibility. 

“In 2015, will decide alongside FIFA how many need for the World Cup,” he said.

Al Khater was speaking in place of Hasan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, who was unable to attend the event.

Al Khater also took the opportunity to set the record straight on reports of poor workers’ welfare on World Cup construction projects. 

“Contrary to what international media says, there is no single injury or death on World Cup projects,” he said.

“However, from the very beginning we have taken the issue of workers’ welfare very seriously,”

Although civic infrastructure developments are progressing rapidly in Qatar, construction has not started on World Cup sites. Only one of the new stadiums, Al Wakrah, is under construction.

By the end of 2014, five World Cup stadiums will be under construction, Al Khater told delegates.

Preparations to lay the foundations for Al Wakrah Stadium, the first stadium being built for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, began on Monday.

Local construction company HBK has started major excavation work on the site, which will enable the foundations to be start being laid in September 2014.

The groundwork is scheduled to be completed by March 2015, with the entire stadium project expected to be finished in 2018. 

AECOM is providing design consultancy and construction supervision services on the stadium, which was designed by Zaha Hadid. The preparatory works at Al Wakrah were carried out by AMANA, a Middle Eastern firm with headquarters in United Arab Emirates. The contractor for the main construction phase will be announced at a ceremony in September.  

“As a Qatari contractor, the decision to award HBK the contract following a tender process implemented for a number of Qatari contractors with local knowledge and proven capabilities follows the Supreme Commitee’s vision to develop the private sector,” the Supreme Committee said in a statement.

The 40,000 seater stadium will be surrounded by a 560,000 m2 (60-hectare) precinct, which will include a new sports centre and a range of community facilities including a park, mosque, school, hotel, wedding hall, vocational training centre and retail outlets.

The stadium’s modular design will allow 20,000 modular seats to be removed after the World Cup, when they are planned to be donated to countries in need of sporting infrastructure, according to the Supreme Committee. 

The contract with HBK contains the Supreme Committee’s new Workers’ Welfare Standards, aimed at protecting the rights of workers through all stages of contracting. “The new Al Wakrah Stadium will contribute to a significant legacy of enhanced workers’ welfare in the country,” said the Committee. 

Al Wakrah is one of at least eight stadiums that will form part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

By the end of 2014, at least five World Cup stadiums are scheduled to be under construction, with the total number of venues to feature in the tournament to be confirmed by December. Three existing stadiums – Khalifa, Al Gharrafa and Al Rayyan – are to be expanded for the 2022 World Cup.

Manchester City star Yaya Toure got more than the hospital treatment he was visiting Doha for this week. The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy made the most of the occasion, showcasing their plans for the 2022 World Cup tournament to the Ivorian midfielder.

“At Manchester City we talk about the World Cup in Qatar, but sometimes only because you hear very negative things,” Toure said. “If I’m honest, I had questions before I came to Qatar, especially about the weather. It is very hot and you ask yourself how it will be possible for players to play in this heat?”

The Supreme Committee welcomed the world-leading midfielder to the Legacy Pavilion – one of the venues that FIFA inspectors visited in 2010 before Qatar won the right to host the tournament. He was shown how stadiums will be cooled in environmentally-friendly ways and how and modular construction techniques will benefit developing countries after the tournament.

“Now that I have seen the plans and watched this amazing presentation, I have the answers. It is amazing,” Toure said.

“I didn’t understand the plans Qatar has. I didn’t know about the cooling technology or anything like this. I am so surprised. It has everything.

“I have played in the World Cup before. I am about to play in another one. I know what you need for this sort of tournament to be successful. Qatar looks like it has the plans to succeed.”

“For sure I will be telling my teammates about these plans because Qatar is planning to have everything. It’s fantastic.

After helping his team to win the English Premier League, Toure went to Doha’s Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital for treatment on a minor injury. He joins the Ivory Coast national team in Dallas, Texas on Thursday to prepare for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Toure hopes to still be playing by the time Qatar is hosting. “In 2022 I will be 40 and maybe that’s too old to play at a World Cup. I’m trying to work out how I can be involved because this is the future. It looks amazing.”

The Qatari government is set to sign up to $50bn in infrastructure contracts over the course of 2014, according to Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani. This represents a massive escalation in construction activity as the 2022 FIFA World Cup draws nearer.

The contracts will include transport and energy projects. A tender for phase one of the Doha Metro has already been issued, according to unnamed sources speaking to Reuters, with a contract expected to be signed by the end of August. 

The $50bn figure, announced by Sheikh Al-Thani at the Qatar Projects 2014 show organised by Meed Events, significantly exceeds previous estimates. Speaking a month before the event, Edmund O’ Sullivan, the chairman of Meed Events said contract awards for big infrastructure projects in Qatar in 2014 were “likely to hit $24bn”.

The recent upturn in spending follows a slow start to the world’s biggest infrastructure project. 

According to Reuters, state spending rose by just 2.2 per cent in the year up to March 2013, while a government report projects state spending to rise by 11.6 per cent in 2014.

"Even with Qatar's means and ambitions, the resources of time, space and human capital are not endless, especially when concentrated on a mere 10 per cent of its soil,” Tilman Engel, managing director of Sport Business Consulting International told HOST CITY. 

Engel advised and directed the Qatar professional football league from 2007 to 2009, during their process of reorganisation and professionalisation in line with AFC and FIFA directives. “Given the enormity of both the World Cup and the National Vision 2030, it is no day too soon for Qatar to launch the projects key to make both visions work."

Infrastructure projects in Qatar accelerated over the course of 2013, overtaking the UAE midway through the year with $12.2bn of contracts awarded, said O’Sullivan. “The bulk… came from the multi-billion-dollar tunnelling packages awarded as part of the Doha metro project.”

On winning the host city election for the 2022 World Cup in 2010, Qatar stated that it would spend $140bn on civic and sporting infrastructure. This figure was soon upgraded, with a report by Deloitte in September 2013 stating that Qatar plans to spend $140bn over the next five years on transport alone.

$200bn is due to be spent over the next 10 years on construction. A further $20bn is to be spent on tourism infrastructure to prepare for the influx of football fans, the Deloitte report said. Since then, an investment of $45bn into tourism by 2030 has been announced.

The AFC Asian Cup draw ceremony took place at the Sydney Opera House on Wednesday, attended by His Excellency Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmad Al Thani, president of the Qatar Football Association (QFA).

Qatar was drawn with Iran, UAE and Bahrain in Group C, while hosts Australia face South Korea, Oman and Kuwait in Group A. 

China was drawn with North Korea, Saudia Arabia and Uzbekistan in Group B. Group D is comprised of Japan, Jordan, Iraq and the AFC Challenge Cup 2014 winners.

On the eve of the draw, Sheikh Hamad confirmed his attendance at the Soccerex Asian Forum.

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said: “It’s a great honour to welcome Sheikh Hamad to the Asian Forum, with Qatar being an example of the rapid growth of football within Asia; we’re delighted to be able to offer our delegates the opportunity to network and do business with one of the most influential footballing administrators on the planet.”

Re-elected to another four-year term late last year, Sheikh Hamad was at the helm of the association when the country won the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

One of the central figures behind the development of the commercial aspect of the game in Asia, Sheikh Hamad oversaw a number of major sponsorship deals for the association as well as the Q-League, including agreements with Qatar Airways, QNB Group and Aamal. 

Soccerex Asian Forum, organized in partnership with the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP), takes place on 13-14 May at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre, situated on the banks of The Dead Sea, Jordan.

For more information about AFC Asia Cup visit the www.afcasiancup.com

For further details about the Soccerex Asian Forum please contact Soccerex on +44 208 987 5522 or visit www.soccerex.com

As Qatar works towards the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and the Qatar National Vision 2030, international interest in the country continues to grow. This is reflected by Project Qatar 2014, to which 2,100 companies from 47 countries expected to attend. 

A total of 24 countries are setting up international pavilions at Project Qatar 2014, the International Construction Technology & Building Materials Exhibition, which takes place on 12-15 May at the Qatar National Convention Centre. 

Three of these countries – Indonesia, Palestine and Romania – are taking pavilions to the event for the first time, reflecting the desire of growing markets to get involved in the construction industry in Qatar. 

More established countries taking international pavilions include major event hosts Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Korea, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

“The international pavilions have been fundamental to the success of Project Qatar, which has a long history of attracting many global exhibitors and visitors. The pavilions offer international exhibitors a central platform to showcase their expertise, products and services,” said Rawad Sleem, Project Manager, Project Qatar.

“The participation of all these international pavilions demonstrates their recognition of the importance and commercial value of partnering with Project Qatar 2014, positioning their nations in Qatar amongst key global leaders in a market experiencing world leading exponential growth in infrastructure, building and construction.”

Francois Sporrer, French Trade Commissioner, Director of UBIFRANCE Middle East said, “There are many construction and infrastructure projects in Qatar, in preparation for the FIFA World Cup in 2022. In 2014, US$40 billion are going to be invested in various projects in this booming market. Project Qatar 2014 is definitely the place to be which is why the French pavilion, organised by UBIFRANCE, will gather nearly 30 French companies offering various state of the art technologies and French know-how for the building industry. Some of these companies are already active in the Qatari market and a number of others are looking forward to Project Qatar 2014 to network with partners and distributors.

The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy has confirmed that it will send a delegation to the Soccerex Asian Forum, which takes place on 13 -14 May in Jordan. 

Secretary general Hassan Al Thawadi is to speak on the “Major Events Panel” and deliver an exclusive presentation on Qatar’s plans to host football’s biggest event. The 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts will also welcome delegates to the VIP Lounge and an exhibition stand that will highlight the various projects that Qatar is undertaking over the next eight years. 

“It is a huge honour to welcome back Mr. Al Thawadi and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy to another Soccerex event,” said Soccerex Chairman Tony Martin.

“The positive investment being made by Qatar for the World Cup represents the commitment and passion shown for football within this thriving continent.”

With an unprecedented number of stadiums and infrastructure projects to be built, training facilities to be supplied and sponsorships to be agreed on, the Qatar 2022 World Cup represents a unique opportunity for the international major events industry. The Soccerex Asian Forum is a rare occasion for the industry to meet decision makers from the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.

A record number of senior industry figures from FIFA and the AFC are set to attend this year’s Soccerex Asian Forum. Leading dignitaries will also attend from La Liga, Real Madrid, Liverpool, the United States Soccer Federation, Manchester United, the Australia Football Federation, the Qatar Football Association, Barcelona, the Japan Football Association, the All India Football Federation and Galatasaray. 

The Forum, held in partnership with the AFDP founded and chaired by HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, will bring together the leading figures from the world of Asian football as well as other international football experts to discuss the development of the game across Asia. The conference agenda will include a review of the opportunities for growth and the challenges facing Asian football.

For more details about the Soccerex Asian Forum please contact Soccerex on +44 208 987 5522 or visit www.soccerex.com/events/asia/

Qatar may be under scrutiny for treatment of workers as it invests US$200bn in infrastructure projects before the FIFA World Cup in 2022, but senior figures in football administration point out that the event is an important part of the country’s process of human development. 
“The government of Qatar made a clear vision in 2008 to transform from being dependent on natural resources and they aim to be an economy based on knowledge and people. As a result, well-being becomes the number one priority of the nation,” Mushtaq Al Waeli, Executive Director, Strategic and Institutional Development, Qatar Football Association (QFA) tells delegates at World Football Forum in Paris.
This development plan, National Vision 2030, has four pillars: economic, human, social and environment – and football is a key element of that vision. 
“Through sports you ensure people are engaged in physical activity. It’s also a vehicle of social cohesion and integration,” says Al Waeli. 
“The social structure of the country is based on people coming into the country from different cultures. Integration is key. Sports – football in particular – has that magic and charm of bringing people together.”
Bidding for the FIFA World Cup was a statement of intent to put the Middle East on the world stage – not just for the nation but for the region. “When we started the bid process in 2009, the message to the world was clear: this is not just a tournament for Qatar,” says Al Waeli. 
“We are united with the region – the Middle East and western Asia. The message is to say we have the right for this major event to come to our land and it will be an amazing tournament – from the visitor experience to the field of play.
“We are also delivering legacy: a physical legacy of venues, and also contributing to how to prepare for any event that comes beyond or before the World Cup. We are creating a new process of developing sports and events.”
But the World Cup is about much more than sports events for the host nation. “I think Qatar has made all that effort and bid for the 2022 tournament – not only showing the great passion that the nation has for football and to bring the tournament to the region – but also to drive the progression towards realising National Vision 2030. It’s a catalyst, a key milestone,” says Al Waeli.
However, the value of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in is rarely presented in such a positive light in the media. Few people feel this more acutely than Alexander Koch, FIFA’s Head of Corporate Communications. 
“We are working very hard in order to leave a positive legacy of the events,” he points out. “Looking at Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, I could talk for an hour about all the efforts that are being done and all the progress being achieved with this new focus. We hope that these positive elements will find their way into the media,” he says.
“When it comes to Qatar, we are being criticised for worker’s rights situation, for environmental aspects: how can you play in a desert country; what is the legacy; why are you going where there is no football tradition; and so on. 
“But you can turn this all around and see what the legacy will be in an event like Qatar, and what the actual effect is for the people and the foreign workers in a country like Qatar.
“Do you really believe that this is negative, with all the media attention and for the first time ever people have a contract signed by the international trade union and Amnesty International and so on?”
A “Workers’ Cup” has been set up for people working on World Cup venue construction projects. Attendance has been high, with around16,000 people having attended matches so far.
Khalifa Al Haroon, Executive Director, Marketing and Communications, Qatar Stars League says: “We aim to be as inclusive as possible. That’s why we are organising the Workers’ Cup. Any company that wanted to compete had to sign up to the Workers’ Charter, to makes sure human rights are upheld – and to give these people the opportunity to become players. This is something we will be continuing as long as possible.”

A ladder to the stars
Qatar is the only country that has a National Sports Day that is a national holiday when everyone takes a day off to take part in sport. The country also stages a number of other different community events, such as the Asian Communities Football tournament. 
“We are creating different levels of leagues, from professional to amateur, to encourage people to play the sport and maybe be future superstars,” says Al Haroon.
Crucial to the creation of Qatar’s potential future football stars is the Aspire Academy, which is open to the general public.
“The QFA is focussed on training players on how to invest their income. It’s not just about football; it’s about creating an industry that didn’t exist four years ago. 
“We won the AFC U19s in 2014 and hosted the AFC U23 in 2016, which we were told was the best organised. That knowledge is being passed on to the players and the general public.”
Mushtaq Al Waeli says: “I had the honour to be part of the Aspire Academy’s creation. The first youth that joined went on to win the Asian Youth Cup, so the system proved that it’s working.
“The elite from the clubs, we bring them to a different part of the academy so they play with the best teams in the world. We work on creating a holistic player who is ready to compete anywhere in the world. If we qualify for the 2018 World Cup you will see players that came through that system.”
Even if Qatar doesn’t qualify for the 2018 World Cup it will automatically qualify for 2022 as hosts. But is automatic qualification necessarily a good thing for the country? Peter Hutton, CEO of major broadcaster Eurosport is not convinced that Qatar will be ready to compete at that level. 
“You have to be realistic – it’s important to play teams that are in the same sort of FIFA team rankings area as you, and to have targets that are just above you and look to achieve target by target. 
“What’s not helpful is to go to an international tournament and then be wiped out, because your whole sense of identity with your country as national football pride actually falls apart. 
“And that’s the concern for Qatar – how will the Qatar national team play when they get to the World Cup, because if they don’t do well, then that can be negative story.”

The Josoor Institute
Mushtaq Al Waeli is acting director of the Josoor Institute, a centre of excellence for the sports and events Industries.
He says “Josoor is an Arabic word that means bridges. We wanted to connect the knowledge of the present, the past and the future. 
“It’s all about knowledge. We are not just a training institute. We aspire to become a centre of excellence. We develop knowledge through research, we embed knowledge through training and education, and we consult on the future. 
“We created Josoor when Qatar won the right to host the 2022 tournament. They set up a government vehicle called the Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy, to keep our promise that we will deliver an amazing tournament in the best possible time. We also wanted to create excellence in human capital development; that responsibility was given to Josoor. 
“Our remit is not for Qatar only. We want to reach everybody who has an interest in working in sport or event industries or wants to move from one academy to another.” 
Launched in 2013, the Josoor Institute delivers a set of products, including certificates and diplomas, working with partners in Qatar and overseas, including leading educational institutions.

This article was written by Ben Avison of Host City at the World Football Forum 2016. The comments from Mushtaq Al Waeli and Khalifa Al Haroon were made in conversation with Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sports Enterprise, Salford University

The inaugural edition of the Asian Youth Athletic Championships will be hosted in Doha in 2015. The news, reported by the Gulf Times, was announced at the 78th council meeting of the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) in Doha. 

Youth Athletics Championships are open to athletes aged 17 or under, unlike Junior Athletics Championships, which are open to participants aged 19 or younger.

“Long-term planning and grass-root level development should be our focus and we need to find ways to encourage the youth. That’s why we have decided to have an Asian Youth Athletic Championships next year,” AAA President General Dahlan Jumaan al-Hamad told reporters at the close of the event on Sunday.

The dates of the event have yet to be determined but it is likely to be hosted in May or June, as the IAAF World Athletics Championships take place in Beijing from 22-30 August. “It would be held before the World Championships so as to give our athletes the incentive to qualify,” Dahlan said. 

The aim of the Asian Youth Athletics Championships is to boost the sport in the continent.

“Asia should change. We need to improve. We need to raise our level. The continent should be at the pinnacle of everything. We are working towards it, and it involves a lot of hard work and commitment. But we are confident we shall reach there," said Dahlan.

In addition to the leaders of AAA member federations, the meeting was attended by former pole vault world champion and IAAF Vice-President Sergei Bubka.

It was also announced that selection trials for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) would be held in the Thailand capital of Bangkok from 21-22 May. The YOG takes place in the Chinese city of Nanjing in August 2014.

The 2015 Asian Youth Athletics Championships event adds to Qatar’s growing programme of sports events. The Gulf nation will be hosting the World Men's Handball Championship in January and February 2015. The UCI Road World Championships is scheduled to take place in 2016, with a potential shift from September to October due to the climate.