The grand scale of Qatar's preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup are best illustrated by the numbers:
- 500,000 fans will attend the games
- Qatar will build a $36 billion rail network, a $5.5 billion new deepwater seaport, and 12 air conditioned statiums that can withstand the up to 50C (122F) heat
- Qatar now has 9,544 hotel rooms, and plans to incease this tenfold over the coming decade.
There is also a tentative plan to complete a $3 billion, 40-km (25-mile) causeway linking Qatar to the island nation of Bahrain to the north.
Goldman Sachs estimates that Qatar will spend about $65 billion preparing for the World Cup.
For more information, see the June 30, 2011 article in Arabian Business.
