Coach of Egyptian giants Al Ahly Pitso Mosimane on Sunday waxed lyrical on Qatar’s commitment to host and deliver a successful edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a little less than two years before the Middle Eastern country hosts the game’s showpiece event in late 2022. While addressing a video conference, Mosimane on Sunday revealed that his squad had spent five weeks preparing for the six-team tournament that began on February 4. Mosimane said his team had little to complaint about: “We haven’t faced any issues during the past five weeks. The airport, transportation, hotels, stadiums and training pitches are all fantastic – and these are the most important components when it comes to hosting a successful World Cup. From a technical point of view, everything is compliant here. I’d give it a green tick.” The Al Ahly coach added: “We are trying our best to look after our health – and the health of our opponents. We comply with these rules to ensure the safety of everyone and in order to continue playing football.”
Mosimane’s observations have come after Qatar on Feb 4 kicked off its third major football tournament in the last six months when Korean giants faced Tigres UANL of Mexico. In Sept-Oct window last year, Qatar authorities joined hands to host the West Zone matches of the 2020 AFC Champions League that was stalled because of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe.
After a month-long event involving 16 teams and dozens of matches, Qatar came to the assistance of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) once again in the Nov-Dec window when it staged the East Zone matches.
The winners of the two events featured in the AFC Champions League final - also played in Doha on Dec 19, 2020. Qatar authorities - that hosted the AFC clubs in a bubble-to-bubble environment for West and East Zone matches - have done the same for the FIFA Club World Cup that ends on February 11.
Qatar are hosting the six-team event at two 2022 FIFA World Cup venues - the Education City Stadium and Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium - with players and officials not allowed to venture out of the bubble-to-bubble environment for the eight days of high-octane football action.
With European champions Bayern Munich to be seen in action today, football fans must be pleased that Qatar has expertly put things together to host a worldclass football event.
