Qatar to finish first world cup venue by 2016

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar, holds the World Cup trophy after the announcement of Qatar hosting the 2022 soccer World Cup in Zurich, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

According to Qatari officials, it’s expected that Qatar, the host of the next football world cup on 2022, will finish work on it’s first tournament venue by 2016, 6 years before the event takes place.

It is also the venue for the 2019 World Athletics Championships, the first time that the games will be held in the Middle East. The Khalifa International Stadium is scheduled to host group stage, round of 16 and quarter-final matches during the 2022 World Cup.

Officials said the stadium once completed will include cooling technology on “the field of play, all seats and concourses”.

Khalifa is one of up to 12 stadiums which will be used during the World Cup in 2022, which for the first time in its history will be played during the months of November and December.

Work has progressed at the stadium despite suggestions earlier in the year that Qatar may lose its right to host the World Cup following the fallout from corruption allegations surrounding FIFA and the launch of an ongoing Swiss investigation examining in part how the tiny Gulf state was awarded the tournament.

Also Qatar’s workers’ safety has become a controversial issue, despite the organizers’ statements that the construction went on without as much as a note-worthy accident.