Construction on the venue of the final game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Lusail Stadium has begun, the stadium will have a capacity of 80, 000 when completed, tournament organisers said.
The stadium is expected to be ready by 2020 and is located 20 kms to the North of the capital, Doha. The stadium will also host the opening ceremony of the mega event.
The stadium would be built over 1 million square meters and foundations are expected to be set up later this year, with clearing work currently in progress, Tamim Loutfi Elabed, the project manager said.
The play area of the stadium has already been identified and is marked out with barriers.
A total of 7000 workers will work on the project, day in and day out. Lusail Stadium is part of the Lusail City, which itself was built from scratch for the mega football event. The stadium is being built jointly by a Qatari and a Chinese company.
Renowned British architectural firm Fosters and Partners will be designing the stadium, the design will be unveiled later this year.
The construction on the nearby metro station, which is part of the ongoing $18 billion Lusail Light Rail Transit (LLRT) Project, the station will be used by fans during the tournament for transit.
A total of 8 venues will be prepared for the tournament, although FIFA is yet to decide on the number of venues that will be used.
Qatar is expecting to spend a staggering $10 billion on stadium infrastructure development alone and about $500 million are spent every week on FIFA 2022 World Cup related infrastructural projects, the Govt. revealed earlier this year.
To give the stadiums a test and also rehearse for the mega event, Qatar is currently in discussions with FIFA to hold the Club World Cup in Qatar in 2021, whether or not the discussions will be fruitful remains to be seen.
