Nasser AI Khater Interview
The Chief Executive Officer of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Nasser AI Khater has expressed his excitement as the official schedule for the 2022 tournament was confirmed
Chief Executive Officer of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Nasser AI Khater has revealed the stadium for the opening game of the tournament in an exclusive interview conducted with FIFA.
Can you tell us where the opening match will take place?
The opening match for the World Cup in Qatar 2022 will take place in AI Bayt Stadium. AI Bayt Stadium is the Northernmost stadium in Qatar and for this World Cup, it has a capacity of 60,000 spectators. It is a true symbol and reflection of our hospitality. of our culture here in Qatar and in the region. It resembles a tent which we call Bayt AI Shah ar, it's a very impressive structure and we look forward to welcoming fans in 2022.
How many matches will be held each day?
The World Cup in Qatar will have uniquely four matches played per day. Being a compact country, scheduling four matches a day is going to be quite unique. It‘s going to give people the opportunity to attend more than one match per day.
It does come with its challenges, which means we need to make sure that operationally we plan it right. We schedule matches depending on the locations of the stadiums, however, a lot of the benefits are people who aren't attending the World Cup get to watch the World Cup at very convenient times, just by the fact of Qatar's location, in the region or in the world means that 3.5 billion people pet to watch the World Cup at very convenient times.
How does it feel to be this close to tournament time?
We're excited, I mean the whole team is excited with two years to go. obviously there's still a lot of work to be done. The past 10 years we were really focusing on infrastructure, whether they are the stadiums, the training sites, the road networks, the metro.
All of that is coming nicely into place right now, with more than 90% of the work finished on the roads and in the infrastructure. When we talk about stadiums more than 85% of the work has been complete, and really now the last two years we're focusing on our operational readiness and making sure we put the fan experience plans in place.
