QATAR REALLY?

[Ronin]

as long as they don´t allow vuvuzelas on the stadiums it's all fine by me.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Google-fu reveals the current Qatari leader is promoting liberalisation and despite the laws the death penalty is never actually used for things like apostasy. The people don't look too backwards looking at the video of the crowds celebratig them getting the event.

[gaelic cowboy]

The story in Ireland is that Mercury Engineering based in Sandyford had a lot to do with Qatar winning the bid, apparently they built a mini stadium for 5 a side match to showcase for FIFA the ability to play and watch a game in the massive heat.

It's all high tech high spec solar panels and reflective surfaces to cool the place zero carbon emmisions etc etc, and the clincher they are gonna build 9 stadiums for the WC and then dismantle them and actually rebuild them in poorer countries after.

here is the interview on RTE but most of you prob wont be able to listen to it

http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2010/1203/media-2865453.html#

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2010/...atar_2022.html Irish mechanical and electrical engineering company Mercury Engineering played a key role in Qatar's success in winning the bid to host the World Cup in 2022, it has been revealed.

The Dublin based firm was contracted to supply the cooling and air conditioning system for a 500-seater showcase stadium which was integral to Qatar's presentation to FIFA.

In June and July average temperatures in Qatar can reach up to 45 degrees Celsius, making it impossible to play - and indeed watch - football matches.

The Qatari bid team looked to Mercury to devise, install, test and commission a zero emission cooling system which would reduce the temperature to around 23 degrees Celsius for the Doha 2022 Showcase Stadium.

Mercury linked the stadium to a solar farm, where photovoltaic cells pour energy all year-round, into the national grid.

At this farm, tubes of water are heated to 200 degrees Celsius before their energy is alchemised into cooling vast freezer packs that sit under the stadium to reduce the temperatures outside the stadium from over 40 degrees Celsius to the low 20's within 14 hours.

When the FIFA delegation visited Qatar in September to inspect and watch a five a side match in the showcase stadium, the temperature were 20 degrees.

Mercury Holdings Managing Director Michael Kennedy congratulated Qatar on its success in winning the bid and said the company was delighted to have played a critical role in the process.

'We set up in the region in 2004 and the company has a well earned reputation for delivering high spec designs on time and on budget.

'On this project we were tasked with mobilising a team of up to 160 skilled personnel to complete the works in a 10 week schedule.

'The team did an excellent job on this prototype stadium and we are now looking forward to playing a key role in the construction of the various stadia and other projects in the run up to the 2022 World Cup'

Mercury Engineering has a projected turnover in the Middle East of close to €100m and recently hired 25 graduates from Ireland to develop potential projects in the region.

The company also welcomed FIFA's decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and said it is looking forward to working on several building projects in that country.

Having setup in Russia in 2003, Mercury Engineering is currently completing two mega data centres in Moscow.

Over the last eight years the company has worked for some of Fortune's Top 500 companies in the region notably Johnson & Johnson, Cushman Wakefield, and Bloomberg to name a few

[quadalpha]

112 matches in the world cup, 40000 spectators per match. Assume each spectator visits a (generous) average of 1.5 matches, that makes 3 million unique visitors.

Population of Qatar: 840,926 (July 2010 est.). Adult population: 659,000. Hotel rooms required per capita: ~2-3.

Political parties: 0.

Husar: No one talked about it before because millions of visitors from all over the world were not about to descend on the country. There are quite large groups of people who would not feel welcome, say, LGBT and Jews. It's almost like giving the World Cup to a country described as a "mafia state" and where racist "monkey" chants are tolerated. It's inconceivable. Oh wait ...

[Moros]

Personally I can understand Qatar really, It's a country that is financially able to host them in an Area that hasn't seen any World Cups. Russia I personally have less positive feelings about, but that has probably to do with the fact I was hoping on either England or Holland/Belgium as that would make me able to go and see quite a few matches easily.

On the political side of things, well... Only perhaps in Europe you can take it really into account. It's the world cup and sadly a lot of area's in the world have few or no democratic or transparent governments. But anyway this is the frontroom...

[aimlesswanderer]

But the figures suggest that they have no people. So unless the locals go to many many matches each (and some of the women may not even be allowed to), they need to import vast numbers of people. And where are these imported people going to stay? The number of poorly paid workers they will need to import to build everything and actually do the work...

I guess that it will also allow them to hold the tournament in a troubled region, in a relatively safe country.