One year to go for FIFA World Cup: Qatar unveils stadium made from shipping containers

365 days before the next FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the host country has unveiled its newest stadium, the seventh it built for the event, Stadium 974.

An arena with 40,000 seats made of shipping containers will reflect the maritime history of Doha. The number 974 is the international dialing code for Qatar.

Formerly known as Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, it is the seventh venue designated for a tournament by the Supreme Committee on Delivery and Legacy. Only one other venue, Lusail, remains to be explained, with Khalifa International, Al Janoub, Education City, Ahmad Bin Ali, Al Bayt and Al Thumama already revealed.

The modular design of the stadium meant that fewer building materials were required than with conventional stadium construction. It will be completely dismantled after the World Cup.

This is the first ever FIFA World Cup in the Middle East.

Qatar has tried to make each stadium unique. The Khalifa International Stadium (capacity 40,000) was redesigned, the Al Janoub Stadium built in the form of a traditional dhow boat, the Education City Stadium built with diamond-shaped geometric patterns, the Al Bayt Stadium resembles a tent, the Al Rayyan Stadium, which is based on sand dunes and the Al Thumama Stadium, modeled after the Gahfiya, a traditional woven hat worn in the region.

In 2017, Qatar’s finance minister said the country is spending $ 500 million a week on World Cup-related construction.

The construction involved significant human costs: Amnesty International estimates that 6,500 migrant workers have died in the country since the announcement of the World Cup, most of them from South Asia. Another recent Amnesty report claimed that labor reforms in Qatar had not changed working conditions, which Qatar has rejected.

The controversies have resulted in setbacks.

The Danish Football Association told BBC Sport on Thursday that Denmark would put additional pressure on FIFA ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.

Denmark’s sponsors will remove their logos from training uniforms, reported BBC Sport, to make room for messages that are critical of the catastrophe. Commercial partners will not travel to the World Cup either. Football fans of the German giant Bayern Munich asked the club to cut ties with Qatar’s national airline.

With inputs from PTI

https://www.theweek.in/news/sports/2021/11/21/one-year-to-go-for-fifa-world-cup-qatar-unveils-stadium-made-from-shipping-containers.html