Doha is primed for another sports blockbuster in February. Just last week the Qatar capital concluded the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games qualifying event in Judo - the Doha Masters - and the 2021 Australian Open tennis qualifiers at the Khalifa Tennis Complex. And exactly 47 days after hosting the first match on its freshly laid pitch, the state-of-the art Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium will host the opening clash of the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup on February 4, 2021. On Qatar’s National Day, Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium became the fourth FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 venue to be declared open following the inauguration of the iconic Khalifa International Stadium (2017), A Janoub Stadium (2019) and Education City Stadium (2020). The 2020 Amir Cup final between Al Sadd and Al Arabi was staged in front of 12,000 fans at the brand new stadium where H H the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and FIFA President Gianni Infantino were also in attendance to witness the historic title clash.
Next month’s premier continental event will see matches among AFC giants from Korea Ulsan Hyundai FC, CAF side Al Ahly SC from Egypt, Concacaf Tigres UANL from Mexico, European champions Bayern Munich of Germany and Qatar powerhouse Al Duhail in the six-team tournament set to be held from February 4 to 11. The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) on Monday confirmed two venues for the hugely popular FIFA tournament - Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium and the Education City Stadium. Both the Qatar 2022 venues were inaugurated six months apart last year, one in June and the other in December.
The FIFA Club World Cup comes around at a time when the world is battling the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Local Organising Committee - with expert help from the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) and other state authorities - hosted and successfully delivered two month-long championships in Sept-Oct and Nov-Dec when the West and East Zone matches were held to complete last year’s AFC Champions League. Dozens of matches were played in the two events and hundreds of players and officials were carefully housed in a bubble-to-bubble environment as AFC completed its stalled championship for clubs with a final on Dec 19, 2020 in Doha. AFC later thanked Qatar for putting together ‘excellent events’ in trying circumstances.
Fans who will be visiting Qatar for the eight-day FIFA Club World Cup next month will get a sneak preview of Qatar’s World Cup plans at two of its venues that are nothing short of engineering marvels.e
