In Lusail, Qatar, the 2022 World Cup will begin soon. The tournament will be held on non-standard dates — from November 20 to December 18.
As always, the organization of such an event is not cheap, and representatives of the Middle East countries spent a lot of money on preparing for it.
The ISPORT editors found out how much the local authorities spent on holding the world championship.
Even when drawing up its application for holding the World Cup, Qatar announced that it plans to spend $200 billion on the organization. Later, this amount increased to 220 billion.
This is by far the most expensive World Championship in history. The previous record was held by Brazil, which in 2014 spent a whopping $15 billion compared to Qatar.
Cost of previous World Championships
2018 World Cup — $11.6 billion
2014 World Cup in Brazil — $15 billion
2010 World Cup in South Africa — $3.6 billion
2006 World Cup in Germany - $4.3 billion
2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea - $7.0 billion
1998 World Cup in France - $2.3 billion
1994 World Cup in the USA - $0.5 billion
It is noteworthy that only 6 to 10 billion of this money was spent on the construction of stadiums. The rest of the money was spent on the construction of the necessary infrastructure. In particular, Qatar built a separate city for the World Cup. The already mentioned Lusail, where the opening and final of the Mundial will take place.
Holding a world championship is part of the country's national strategy, which is designed to make Qatar an advanced power in the Asian region and ensure a high level of income for the population.
Recall that the 2022 World Cup will begin on November 20 at the Lusail Aikonik Stadium, where the hosts of the tournament will host the national team of Ecuador at 17:00 Kyiv time.