Doha: FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Thursday the World Cup final this year in Qatar would be the “benchmark” to hold a global sporting event in the future during the health crisis.
Qatar organizers, who will have thousands of extra medical staff on duty for the events of 32 countries starting November 21, saying they are “carefully optimistic” it will be the first mass meeting of sports fans for global sporting events since the Coronavirus pandemic erupted two years ago .
The audience was largely guarded by the Tokyo Olympics last year and the winter Olympics were ongoing in China.
FIFA announced this week that demand was made for 17 million tickets for the first World Cup in the Arab region and tried to convince fans on safety measures during an online health conference organized by Qatar authorities.
Medical officials said at this conference there would be 90 medical points and 10 ambulances in each match.
Abdul Wahab Al Musleh, one of the medical organizers of the event, said there would be 3,000 medical staff only for tournaments above the hospital and the Gulf state clinic.
The medical examination post and paramedics will also be deployed in the main fan zone that will be able to accommodate up to 80,000 people.
Qatar estimates that 1.2 million people will visit during the tournament.
Football has the task “to ensure this is not just the best World Cup ever but also the healthiest World Cup,” said Infantino in a statement recorded for the event.
He added that health and security standards will be “benchmark for future sports events on this scale.” The same message was given by the Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreesus who highlighted the “unique challenge” faced by the organizers due to a pandemic.
WHO has worked with Qatar on health security, infectious diseases and food security during the World Cup.
“The lesson from Qatar’s experience at the World Cup will help us all in designing health and safety steps for other large-scale events,” Tedro added.
Both FIFA and Qatar organizers, who have spent billions of dollars preparing for the event, have said what will happen if the new Koronavirus wave threatens the event.
But Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the Government Supreme Committee for shipping and inheritance, said: “While the pandemic is still very much here with us, now we can see real light at the end of the tunnel.” In our eyes, Pandemi has given Qatar 2022 new significance.
Our World Cup may be the first time the world can be together correctly to celebrate its desire for football.
“We are carefully optimistic that we might be a country that accommodates the first true meeting of global fans since the beginning of the crisis,” Thawadi added.