Let football take the centre stage in Qatar
The 22nd edition of the FIFA men’s World Cup tournament is scheduled to kick off today in Doha, Qatar. In every ramification, this edition is quite different from any that has been held since the 1930 inaugural tournament in Uruguay. It is the first time this global football showpiece will be taking place in the Middle East and the Arab world. For the first time also, the World Cup will be played during the Northern Hemisphere mild winter months of November–December outside the usual June-July schedule. With the farthest venue barely 20 minutes away from the city centre, the tournament will last only 29 days, making it one of the shortest in more than four decades. The final of the tournament will be played on 18th December with 32 countries competing across 64 matches.
Meanwhile, Qatar got the hosting rights in 2010 after beating off stiff competition from the United States and Australia. The gulf nation, of less than…
Source: Thisday Newspaper
