QATAR Olympic Committee Secretary-General Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al Thani on Wednesday unveiled the Qatar sports venue master plan (QSVMP) at the Aspire4Sport congress.
The details of the plan were presented by Abdul Rahman al Maliki, QOC Director of Eengineering, during the Aspire Build Q & A session with Sheikh Saoud.
The new venues would be distributed over five zones around Lusail City, Qatar Foundation, Aspire Zone, Old Airport Area, and Qatar University.
Two years in the making, the plan audited 62 existing sports venues for usability and proposed 11 new ones, in addition to eight venues originally planned by the QOC.
Sheikh Saoud made it clear that Qatar doesn't want to make ‘white elephants’ but venues which can be used for sports activities in future.
“Our focus since the beginning of this project has been legacy and ensuring that we avoid white elephants,’ said Sheikh Saoud.
“We have watched countries build large venues and struggle later with what to do with them. Our team has worked backwards, thinking first about how these venues can be of use in the future before planning their use during major sporting events.” Sheikh Saoud also didn’t hesitate to announce that Qatar will not only host ‘another World Cup’ but the best ever. “ It won’t be just another FIFA World Cup. It will be the best ever. This is because we like to raise the bar, like we did in the Asian Games, “ said Sheikh Saoud.
He also mentioned that the desert country will keep on trying to bringing the Olympics to Doha. “ We will keep on trying and continue bidding. We will make sure that this time around we tighten the loose ends and make it to the second round, “ explained Sheikh Saoud.
Malki said that their officials had spent a lot of time with the engineers of the venues to make sure that they are not wasted after 2022. “We spent a lot of time meeting with these entities and their engineers to find out what their plans are and ensure that we were aligned,” said Malki, referring to major stadia and other sports facilities already in the plans of Qatar Foundation and Lusail City.
He further added, “We’ve also mapped out a way in collaboration with the ministry of municipal affairs to integrate all our sports venues with the transportation network that Qatar is building .” Malki explained the process of putting together the Master Plan and identified the factors taken into consideration, such as the cost of building a permanent new venue, which amounts to QR 12 bn. He also said that the plan was put into place with the ‘Olympics 2024 in mind.’
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