Dylan Bettencourt
While Qatar may have been successful in its bid to host the Fifa World Cup, the country stands to lose out financially in the long run.
The gas-rich nation has spent billions trying to emulate its neighbours Dubai and Abu Dhabi in attempting to become a world superpower.
In the last 11 years, Qatar has spent approximately R3 trillion just on infrastructure to improve the country ahead of the World Cup.
The majority of the work done in Qatar has been done independently in the nation’s bid to become a regional business hub as well as increase tourism by 300% by the year 2030, a government official told Reuters.
In comparison to previous World Cup spending, South Africa spent R52 billion while Brazil spent R183 billion.
Qatar, however, has not spent the entire R3 trillion on football stadiums but has improved its expressways, a metro network, a deep-water port as well as an expanded airport.
As is often the case with World Cup hosts, many of the stadiums will lay idle after the showpiece comes to an end.
“A lot of thought and effort is going to be needed to repurpose a lot of that infrastructure to make it usable, to make it fit for purpose beyond the World Cup,” said Robert Mogielnicki, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
As Qatar has a population of a mere 2.8 million people, the country is only allowing in visitors who have tickets to a World Cup match in an attempt to prevent overcrowding.
Younes, the manager of Doha’s R4 billion Lusail Boulevard, raised concerns of the building being empty once the World Cup ends.
“Maybe these will all be empty buildings after the World Cup. We don’t know,” he said, adding: “You see all these flats? There’s too much accommodation here.”
The International Monetary Fund projects a 3.4% boost to Qatar’s economy, but that is predicted to fall to 1.7% by 2024.
Image source: @ThePeninsulaQatar
