What Has Happened To Qatar's World Cup Stadiums?
Vložit
- čas přidán 18. 05. 2024
- When Qatar won the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in 2010, the country didn't have a single stadium which met FIFA's World Cup requirements.
Over the next twelve years, Qatar spent $6.5 billion on eight enormous stadiums, promising to transform them into hotels, community hubs, and to deconstruct and ship some to developing countries after the tournament.
It was a key part of Qatar's winning bid, so in this video, one year on from the 2022 World Cup, HITC Sevens takes a look at what has so far happened to Qatar's World Cup stadiums, whether they and FIFA have kept their promises, and the legacy of the 2022 World Cup as a whole.
My Social Links:
Linktree - linktr.ee/alfieph
Twitter @HITCSevens - / hitcsevens
Instagram @hitcsevens - / hitcsevens
Other HITC football / soccer / Premier League socials (not run by me):
Facebook - HITCfootball - Sport
Not even a year later... What a Qatarstrophy... 😢
I see what you did there
@@nont18411anything would be better than your current predicament
Nice 👍
you aren't that sad if you're cracking jokes about it
You sir win the internet today. 👏🏻
It was always going to be a problem when the stadiums capacities are larger than the population of Qatar.
LOL
For now... I have a feeling Qatar is going to be a booming nation soon enough population wise... I.e. refugees from nearby... ahem... conflicts... It might be empty now but in theory it should be a great destination for Arab migrants...
@@stickynorthand the UAE
@@stickynorth Bro they're all going to Europe. Your prediction may be right if the European countries get their act together and start restricting immigrants.
So you’re telling me that Qatar and Fifa LIED to us?? 😢I’m shocked
Gotta be used to it now with the British leaders though
@@zeedan9700🖕troll
@@zeedan9700Sarcasm ain't your strong suit, ey? 😂
@@StillAwesome21clearly you missed the joke 😂😂😂😂
Well, not that shocked 😧😂
Pretty unsurprising that they're going unused but still really upsetting how much was lost on these stadiums.
Lives yes. Money no.
@@insertgenericusernamehere2402Both yes
Britain is a country currently ruled by someone that the people never voted for and he is carrying out a plan to send people trying to come to UK for a better life to Rwanda even though the courts said it’s unlawful
But Alfie won’t mention anything regarding that as British Sport doesn’t get involved the countries politics right? We’ll just ignore when everywhere was littered with Ukraine flags n Wembley was lit up or how everyone stops is one of the royals get a cold or Remembrance Day where most prem players gotta have a min silence to pay respect to soldiers that prob invaded their country with the amount of foreign players now, BLM, Celtic getting fines for siding with Palestine but Rangers get nothing for siding with Israel.
Britain isn’t as overt as the Middle East nations but it’s always used sports to mirror their politics
@@zeedan9700because UK didn't bribe FIFA for the world cup, openly uses slaves, is top 10 in human rights. Biggest country funding Taliban who been trying to take parts of Pakistan. Ethnic cleansing or Baha'i, Balochs etc. one of 7 country's who still push the barbaric female circumstion which has huge side effects, marry your rapist, adultery for women is death (which includes being raped) and a man a fine or jail at the most. Women can't work or get education without 2 males permissions , can't travel without a man. Honour killings are common and legal if women dosent obey males often daughters being killed. Child brides very common. Britain isn't great but Qatar is pretty evil and one of the worst country in the world. It's not a east/ west or relgion thing it just a massive human rights abusing area.
@@zeedan9700 did something he say upset you in this video?
As an American, I'm trying to picture how insane it would be to build a brand new NFL level stadium for a USL League One team.
Texas has high school stadiums for football that are 20k...
@@HarryWessextry 40-50k and they fill these places up
To be fair, there's a lot of Americans it makes sense
@@axdambient
True, especially when college football can reach 100,000 attendees.
@@HarryWessexI’m from Texas and those high school stadiums are FILLED to bursting for Friday nights. Also, they have running tracks around them, weight rooms for the athletes and some indoor practice surfaces. And don’t forget…there will ALWAYS be kids at high schools.
I'm always really impressed by just how popular American college football is. I wish there was a similar level of support and investment in football at similar levels here in the UK.
That's crazy to think the government could have asked the people: do you want to host the World Cup or a check for $700,000?
Depends on how big the population is.
Chinese people would rather have the world cup.
@@bbcmotdhe wasn’t talking about china. He was talking about Qatar
You really think the 313k citizen need that 700k? They’re rich as fuck that’s pocket money for them
@@bbcmotd For £700k you could fly 1st class to 100s of spoirting events all over the world
@@peroxide3780700k is way higher than the GDP per capita of the country.
I was in Doha last September, some 2022 world cup signs had been left up, I saw a bunch of half finished building sites and abandoned hotels, I even got a photo with some sort of mascot statue on the Corniche waterfront which had been fenced off but the fence was knocked down and completely unguarded on the side of a major highway, it was an absolute shambles
"OuR gOaL iS tO gRoW tHe GaMe AcRoSs ThE wOrLd"
*turns stadiums into rec centers, malls and ships the balance out of the country*
just avoid countries where everyone born there is crap at all sports ie arab nations
We all know that Alfie is cooking up a "What on Earth is Going On at Everton" video!
I rather know what's up with City not getting 50 points deduction yet
Same thing that happened to most stadiums in countries that don't have much of a football culture but bribe fifa to give them a world cup or major tournament.
I mean the guy literally said Qatar are hosting the Asian Cup next year which they need the stadiums for n that was done after a 2nd bidding process. You can see why that would have thoughts that there’s no way they would have been able to carry out all that work 12/13 months so no point in starting yet plus I’m sure residents will be glad the break in construction everywhere after the years leading up to the World Cup
@@zeedan9700copying and pasting the same comment over and over again is not gonna make people care bro
@@zeedan9700u must be from Qatar or sum 😂
@@zeedan9700and the capacity for stadiums for those games doesn't need to over 15k....
true, but it is most egregious in Qatar's case. It's the microcosm of everything wrong with FIFA and corruption in it
The biggest irony with mentioning Peter Mokaba stadium as a discontinued venue for football is in the fact that it still hosts games in South Africa's top flight league. It just looks that way due to ill maintenance. All 2010 stadiums are still functional and host games. The next game at the peter mokaba stadium will be played on 29 Nov 19:30 - Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
This guy just does a quick google search and then make videos to spew his own personal agenda these days. Qatar are hosting the Asian Cup next year which they need the stadiums for n that was done after a 2nd bidding process.
You can see why that would have thoughts that there’s no way they would have been able to carry out all that work 12/13 months so no point in starting yet plus I’m sure residents will be glad the break in construction everywhere after the years leading up to the World Cup
@@zeedan9700Chill, his videos are so long and intricate that there's bound to be some small mistakes in there. The point is, however, that the stadium was allowed to deteriorate as soon as the main event (World Cup) ended. As for his personal agenda, it seems to just be about promoting human rights, which, to me, seems pretty reasonable.
He was probably referring to the poor maintenance rather than the stadium being disused.
@@zeedan9700what you talking about lol he mentions that, and how nobody goes to those games either. Money talks and oil runs, we’ll see how much Qatar cares about football soon enough
@@zeedan9700What residents, the mirgant worker who now there sitting around doing nothing? Those will not be nowhere near as packed from the Asian Cup, no disrespect, but it's not must see football.
Yeah, one of my favorite aspects of the next World Cup is that no new stadiums need to be built. When you see the AT&T stadium, Sofi, Azteca, etc. You can marvel at those modern wonders and know they are used consistently. Also, I live around 30 minutes away from the SoFi stadium, depending on traffic, so I am a bit biased as well lol.
Azteca stadium is garbage. Same as the Arrowhead.
@@GokuMcDuck
Ok, you caught me, I wanted to throw a bone, so I wasn't being too gung-ho American. That having been said, it's getting renovated to comply with FIFAs guidelines. Also, the arrowhead stadium is absolutely iconic, while not as amazing as other stadiums, it's not garbage. Still, as a Los Angeles resident, I do think our SoFi stadium is the most incredible stadium ever built, so I'm glad it's going to play a role in the World Cup and the Olympics.
Sofi will no longer be a venue....
@@Zthe
Let's hope they can work that out...
I forgot about that. Damn it.
It's just reality that NFL stadiums are the world's premier stadiums. Nothing Gung ho American about it.
As always, Alfie, an impressively well researched, structured and narrated story. I doubt anyone is really surprised by the legacy of the infrastructure, nor by the lack of consequences on those responsible.
Those responsible became VERY wealthy from the entire Qatar 2022 project, both from the projects, company owner & directorships & the widespread corruption, backhanders & skimming-off at every level, particularly within the Qatari construction industry. It was no place to be if you were an honest salaried & diligent worker with professional morals & standards.
Even everyone involved knew it would turn out like it did, but they never cared about the people in Qatar or football. It's a crime and a shame that they will get away with this.
That's terrible about the migrant workers.. disgraceful treatment. Ultimately the buck should stop with the corrupt FIFA organisation. Simply fobbing off questions by diverting then to the Qatari government simply isn't good enough! They made the deals and now they don't want to be held to account. Appalling behaviour!
Qataris doesn't care about migrant workers death.
The Nepal government some 10+years ago applied a new rule for their citizens working in Qatar & applied a minimum salary (labourer & supervisor salary levels...just two simple levels) which had to be put in writing in all workers employment contracts & had to be approved & stamped at the Nepal Embassy before a working visa could be issued & affixed within the worker's passport.
It was a ludicrous daily spectacle seeing mainly Egyptian & Lebanese HR department staff from all companies (but mainly construction firms...) at the embassy trying every trick they could to circumvent this rule to pay the workers less than the Nepal Govt-instigated minimum rate...The shouting, anger, disrespect, tricks, lies & appalling behavior towards embassy staff (incl the Ambassador & Vice Ambassador...) from these individuals just to pay the smallest of small salary was simply disgraceful, & as ever, the Nepalis took it in their stride with a smile on their faces... 🙏
Saudi, Qatar and UAE should combine their leagues and create something with different tiers. That way there can be a better standard of football and these stadia get utilised
The 'beheading journalists' league
Then all saudi clubs will be in first tier while qatar and uae fight in the second and third tier
Better standard of football over there hahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahaha lay of that stuff ya on
@@jacknelson927 money talks bro. I'm not saying it'll be EPL tier, but you can't tell me the three of them can't put something together to rival the MLS or A-League? 🤷🏽♀️
With no idea of the political tension between Qatar and the others it makes sense...
It's always a treat when Alfie mention my home - Jamaica
I remember when The Reggae Boyz qualified for France '98. They were the second team for a lot of us English fans! Would be fantastic if they can reach the upcoming North American World Cup!
@@nickvickers3486 we Jamaicans are cynical of our national team but once we make to USA which have a sizable Caribbean diaspora population expect us to brig the vibe 😌😌😌 worst because it's close by 😌😌😌
2026 won't have this problem . Maybe hosting in places that don't need to build stadiums would be a good start .
Yes. But you have to wonder...will 2026 be the last World Cup that can affordably be held?
2034 is awarded to ...Saudi Arabia!
@@garrywallace1007 can Saudi host 48 teams by itself 😂 that alot of training facilities and hotels for fans
Minor Correction - Regarding the Peter Mokaba stadium, it is very much still in use. The infrastructure is still pretty good. It is the actual football pitch thats in terrible shape. Infact all our 2010 Stadiums are fully functional. The Moses Mabhida stadium has gone on to host cricket games as well (its oval shape worked in its favour). The stadiums regulary host concerts, etc.
South Africa does have a problem with filling venues consistently but this was a problem before the world cup. Our biggest problem is maintenance (especially of the field/pitch). We mitigate the problem by hosting a variety of things at these stadiums (Rugby games, Concerts, Political rallies, Large scale funerals, Coronations, you name it 😅)
Peter Mokaba currently has the best pitch in South Africa though. This guy didn't use the recent picture of the stadium
The Arena da Amazonia could soon host a Série A team, as Amazonas FC recently got promoted to the Série B as champions.
In theory, these stadia weren't meant to last forever and they had plans to be redeveloped. The cost has been enormous because everything had to be built. Airport, port, subway system, hotels, roads, etc. France hosted the rugby world cup a month ago and the cost wasn't important because every stadia were already built, we have hotels, good public transport and roads.
In January, Qatar will host the AFC Asia Cup but they'll become white elephants. Clubs don't attract many fans in stadiums and they don't need 8 stadiums for the league. Unless they decide to make major tournaments on an annual basis. In 2027, there will be the basketball world cup and I doubt these football stadium will be used.
Like every politicians, they lied and I don't think they'll change their minds.
I must remind you that Qatar is an autocratic state. And, being authoritarian means they are fine to do their dirty businesses even if this means increasing corruption, debts and economic mismanagements.
Another example is Kazakhstan, an authoritarian state that joined UEFA in 2002 not because of loving football but to bribe and corrupt Europe, which is 21st century's first sportswashing state. Kazakhstan spent oil money exploited from the Caspian Sea to sportswash the country with FC Astana and now their inflated football team (which has been a surprise currently). But in depth Kazakhstan stays autocratic, represses dissidents, imprisons journalists and activists, whilst has no organic structure, infrastructure is abysmal, and youth football is underdeveloped and underfunded because the autocrats of Kazakhstan don't care (hence their Euro 2024 shock campaign was deemed a surprise rather than anything organically). Similar strategy has since been adopted since then, such as Russia hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics, 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020 even when most Russians are poor. Or Azerbaijan hosting the European Games, Europa League final and Euro 2020 despite abysmal human rights record and poor investment with only Baku is rich while most of Azerbaijanis are poor. Saudi Arabia recently won the 2034 World Cup hosting rights despite its medieval treatments of citizens and horrific records on human rights.
But that's the world we have today. I wish UEFA had never allowed Kazakhstan to join at the first place, since that moment fuelled autocratic regimes like that in Qatar, Russia and Saudi Arabia to use their money for dirty bids.
One of the good things about World Rugby is they do their due diligence on potential hosts
@@diomuda7903 They all learnt in Western Europe, especially France.
Have you seen the scandals related to the Olympic bid? We also have our shares of illegal migrant workers, lots of delays, failed security, locals who are fed up with it and protest, etc. Also, France helped Qatar getting that WC and I'm surprised we got away with conspiracy theories.
FIFA, UEFA, Olympics love to work with authoritarian states because it's easier to make projects as people can't protest and get everything done in time.
@@stanyamish3996 Our mistakes are huge, we have failed many good people in Europe and free world. It was our tolerance to Nazi Germany fuelled WW2. It was our unwillingness to the Soviets fuelled the colonial oppression of the Russians. If these autocrats have the upperhand, we are the one to be blamed.
There is still a chance to correct it. But I fear it is being wasted.
Denocracies will not hinder that, they show us over and over. Only difference is they need to lie and hide it a bit more. Take a close look and see what and who "our" representatives truly represent.
Brazils stadiums are mostly empty and Russia both country's who bribed there way too, same with China's Olympic stadiums
But Brazil has a strong reputation on it, something not seen with Russia and even less with China.
@@davidbowie5023Russia had the best world cup out of the three.
@@bbcmotd But Brazil has the strongest World Cup reputation. Yes it is not a prosperous country and has been criticised for mismanaging money for sporting events, but if talking football reputation, Brazil is above both Russia and China.
Brazil's stadiums being mostly empty isn't true at all. Some of them are abandoned/underused, but most of them are being used frequently. Most stadiums are home to clubs with a great amount of supporters that go to those stadiums, the biggest issue in brazilian stadiums are ticket prices, not lack of supporters or infrastructure.
Maracanã: well used
Mineirão: well used
Neo Química Arena: well used
Beira-Rio: well used
Fonte Nova: well used
Castelão: well used
Arena da Baixada: well used
Arena Pantanal: well used
Arena Pernambuco: underused
Arena das Dunas: barely used
Estádio Mané Garrincha: barely used
Arena da Amazonia: abandoned
From this list only Arena da Amazonia is abandoned. Arena das Dunas host games to games from lower divisions to very small crowds and is a waste. Estádio Mané Garrincha is occasionaly used from time to time by clubs like Flamengo, Vasco other clubs from Rio de Janeiro but nothing common enough to justify the investment. Arena Pernambuco host occasional matches from teams with a big ammount of supporters, but those teams are lost on lower divisions (Santa Cruz, the biggest one was in Serie A in 2016, but they fell so hard that they currently have no national division right now, so I wouldn't call it a stadium failure, but a club failure reggarding the lack of usability from the stadium).
Most of brazilian stadiums are in good state and are being heavily used in national and international competitions. Brazil's stadiums are the biggest success in recent years despite having 4 stadiums out of 12 that are being wasted right now, with only 2 of them (Arena da Amazonia and Estádio Mané Garrincha) having no business existing because of the lack of appropriate clubs to use them. FIFA needs to bring the World Cup to countries with stablished teams and stablished fooball culture, but money talks.
@@davidbowie5023 you can't just host every world cup in Brazil/Germany/Argentina/France.
Give other nations with rich history and culture a chance.
The Brazilian stadiums are more used now. The Arena Pantanal has pretty good attendance in the the first tier, and the Arena da Amazônia hosted a few of Amazonas third division games when they got promoted to the second division this season. Even the Mane Garrincha is now used fairly often for the Supercup or occasionaly league games of teams like Flamengo or Santos.
Brazil has 200 million people, makes sense to build stadiums there.
You can do it in a place like Brazil and end up with an economic gain.
EU QUERO VER O AMAZONAS NA SERIA A PORRAAAAAA
Would be interesting to have another update on Qatar another year from now
Less than a year.
The result of sportswashing. When you whitewash without plans, this happened.
Kazakhstan has prioritised sportswashing by corrupting and bribing UEFA and Europe by joining UEFA since 2002, and to upgrade, they have to sportswash their football team with the oil money from the Caspian Sea. But Kazakhstan’s inner soul is, and still, an AFC nation. Their current football shock success is only temporary, there is no long term strategy, Kazakhstan’s youth football is freaking abysmal, and they are destined to collapse, all because Kazakhstan has used sportswashing and corruption. When you realised Kazakhstan has intensified friendlies with Asian countries since 2022, I won’t be surprised, overall, Europe is far more concerned on democracy and human rights, which Kazakhstan did not even pass at all; while Asia cares less about democracy or human rights.
Azerbaijan also tries sportswashing. They hosted U17 Women’s World Cup, then European Games and hosted the 2020 Euro. In the end, Azerbaijan’s football quality did not improve while oil money from Caspian Sea is for nothing as Azerbaijan has no football structure.
Russia has more successes, but it also used sportswashing with World Cup, Euros, and even bribed UEFA and other sporting officials. Russia has more resources so they could sustain, but after being banned, Russia revealed itself as a crumbling structure where corruption is rife.
And they are all UEFA members, or, to be correct, sportswashing states inside UEFA. The same applied to Qatar as well. Overall Qatar’s strategy is similar to Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, trying to win respects by blood money. But it appeared not to be. What a waste Qatar is.
Luzhniki was never a full-time stadium for any premiership team in Russia, but rather holds the same cultural significance as Wembley does in the UK as the national/olympic stadium. Torpedo is using/used it temporarily while its home stadium undergoes reconstruction, just like Tottenham used Wembley for home games when Tottenham Stadium was going up.
It's always a good day when HITC Seven creates a video!
That's why the World Cup and Euro's should only go to countries who actually play football.
This is nothing new... Take a good look at Portugal.
Only 5 out of the 10 stadiums built for EURO 2004 are being used at full capacity.
Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria have no clubs at top flight, while the Faro stadium remains empty.
SC Farense are back at the top league, but are using their own stadium other than the new one.
Boavista were already planning on expansion anyway.
When your new stadiums hold more people than the population of your entire country, there’s a good chance you’ll run into a minor issue or two afterwards
I am constantly reminded of the fact that people have either forgotten or never cared about the myriad human rights abuses, general ugliness and the sheer scale of corruption that surrounded the world cup in Qatar, because their bread and circuses were good. Because there were some good matches, and because the final was a good game, people have written it out of their minds that this world cup was a monstrosity and should never have happened. Same with Saudi Arabia in 2034. Thank you for making this video.
If human rights is a issue for you. Then I dare you to condemn the hosts of 2026 Fifa world cup, America, Canada and Mexico. These 3 countries have worst human rights violations than Qatar. The United States of America and Canada give more than billion dollars of aid to Israel every year and this aid is unconditional nobody in America can even question it or criticise it. The same America and Canada give aid to Israel which is currently committing a Genocide against Palestinians. Why is that people in the West won't condemn their own countries human rights violations but have issues with tournaments being hosted in Muslim nations like Qatar
@@grovestreetogs5953who days people don't? This just happens to be a video on Qatar so people are more likely to talk about Qatar
@@grovestreetogs5953because Israel isn’t committing genocide.
@@grovestreetogs5953 I guess you've never lived, worked or been inside the Sanaya Industrial Area labour camps or listened to the hardships of the majority of the migrant labour workforce used & abused to build Qatar 2022 then....smdh...
@@grovestreetogs5953 💯
If you go to the middle east regularly it's very common for new builds to look absolutely shit a couple years after being built
They're being filled out every week by adoring Jordan Henderson fans willing to join him in the fight against homophobia in the country!
😂😂😂😂👍👏
Why doesn't he wear LGBT armband anymore? So much about that fight
He plays in Saudi Arabia. Different country.
@@Sabo__90Because it's no longer profitable and Saudi Arabia doesn't do ESG scores. That's the reason 99% of people pretend to care.
@@_Ali.He's crusading across the continent as we speak.
Again, you need to look into Bulgarian Football Union
Well done for keeping the spot light on this.
Can’t wait to see your video on the best left wingers of the 2000’s. I wonder where the likes of Mane, Hazard and Ribery will rank.
Alfie is the number 1 left winger of the 2000s
@@MenWithVenNope he is a center right person with a bit humanity left.
@@nishant54can you elaborate?
gigs
Excellent video and thoroughly entertaining. Love your deadpan humour. Very British
Hey, guys. Love the channel.
Just some more information about Brazil's Estadio Mané Garrincha: it's not true that it's not used.
Occasionally teams from other cities come to play here, so much so that less than a month ago I saw Flamengo vs. Santos there in that stadium.
And on November 30th there will be the Paul McCartney Show.
In addition to several other shows and games.
It is true that it could be used more often, due to its enormous capacity, however, it is also not true that it is abandoned. I would say that at least twice a month there is an event there.
Wow Paul McCartney! I love The Beatles, that's fantastic that he's going to play there! It sounds like a big stadium in the capital of the largest country in South America is being put to good use. Being a neutral venue for a few games featuring Brazil's big teams makes a lot of sense as well as I bet a lot of people move to Brasilia from other parts of Brazil. Does the national team play there sometimes as well?
Anyway I like the philosophy of, oh we have a big stadium, let's put it to good use...cheers for the update!
@@nickvickers3486 Brazil big teams play there only when their home stadiums, like Maracanã, have a show or undergo maintenance
Hence Qatar should never have held the World Cup
that ship sailed when we put the italian mafia in charge of all footballing activities worldwide, it was always going to end up with the highest bidder winning location.
Poor Thogden that he had to visit all these stadiums
But at least he didn't have to pay for any of it
Some poor soul got to enjoy world cup? Oh no
Yes, poor Thogden. He is a very poor man. How will he ever escape his eternal poverty?
@@bbcmotd did he even watch enough football to enjoy it? He was travelling to every match, meaning he would have had to leave before full time to get to the next one
@@ethandalton6480 I have no idea who that is so can't tell you
$220 Billion is a number I cannot fathom... and Qatar have probably made their money back by now.
Through oil and corruption
They never meant to follow with post WC plans. Hollow promises. Its that simple, and not surprising at all.
They're being used for Asian cup
Great video. You are a great story teller, and provide interesting insights. Kudos and thank you!
Germany is literally the only world cup host in this century with a sustainable use of their world cup stadiums.
Every stadium from 2006 is still in use for a first or second tier club and every stadium has an average attendance over 35.000 per game.
France was in 1998, different century but same comments apply today , even more via hosting European championship in 2016
The Germany World Cup in 2006 was, on the other hand, by far the most boring World Cup I have been to as a fan. I also went to France 1998, Brazil 2010 and Russia 2018. France, Russia and Brazil were all fantastic world cups with great parties and good organisation. The Germany World Cup was somewhere between dull and annoying in my opinion. The police were constantly rude and aggressive, even if I never saw a single fight. Often they stopped us from visiting local pubs in Dortmund, where I spend most of that World Cup. I can't really be arsed to viist next years Euro in Germany, for the same reason. But I am looking forward to going to Mexico in 3 years time, for another World Cup.
@@biking-viking-claus-andersen wow mate quite a journey you have gone through
France 98 was my only « live » World Cup , well on my own soil so nothing exotic
Oh despite the fact that I was not in Paris for title day (13th of July, how can I forget), I was back in Mauritius where had spent my youth to visit friends , took my plane tickets months before the WC only to realise the final was the Day of my arrival 10 000 km away from THE party 😂😂😂
Watching the game with my youth football teammates, Whistle FC (true story) ‘s pitch had about 8% of its surface covered in grass, rest was rocks and land but we were proud and joyful u15 young lads and are still friends to this day
What a moment I ve both missed and gained ♥️
South African stadiums are in good shape too even though the attendance is not that high. They are used by the rugby teams and the top flight teams
Loftus Versveld; Mamelodi Sundowns and Vodacom Blue Bulls
Mbombela Stadium; TS Galaxy and Pumas
FNB Stadium; Kaizer Chiefs
Ellis Park; Emirates Lions
Cape Town Stadium; Cape Town City and DHL Stomers
Nelson Mamdela Bay Stadium; Chippa United
Free State Stadium; Free State Cheeters
Peter Mokaba Stadium; Polokwane City, Sekhukhube United
Royal Bafokeng Stadium; Defunct Platinum Stars and several top flight football teams
Moses Mabhida Stadium; South African football cup finals, AmaZulu. Royal AM and Richards Bays are also tenants
@@biking-viking-claus-andersenMexico will be a party 😂
Averaging 3000 fans in an 80,000 capacity stadium is almost criminal... Playing in that must have been a surreal experience.
Amazing how not a single Palestinian refugee is using these empty facilities- whilst their leaders live in luxury down the road in Qatar
Because they can't go anywhere which is reality , Israel tell them to go south then bomb south and north they bomb north... Qatar is home to Isis,Taliban,USA, Russia, hamas it basically made itself a center for negotiation etc
I take your point but the countries aren’t close at all
because they don't want to be refugee they want to stay in their homland. that is the whole point
You any idea how far you've got to walk to get from Gaza to Qatar?
@@DrJReefer Its a lot closer than Europe/North America- but they seem to be able to make it there no problem
The first world cup where I didn't watch a game or even see the highlights. Soulless, corrupt world cup.
For me, the World Cup died in 2018, but I could understand that Russia is a huge country with a football pedigree.
Qatar was on another level of corruption.
The football was good, better than I expected. But it just seemed off being it was on during Christmas
My god I can’t believe it’s been a year since the World Cup. I remember it pretty well almost like it was yesterday. It’s funny how a year has passed and I still can’t get over the heart break of my country France losing in the final. Besides that those were Good times the World Cup was. I like how since there’s no World Cup this year the only thing we have similar to the World Cup is the euro qualifiers. It feels like a group stage u have to advance from to make it to the knockouts/euro cup. Also the Asian, African and South American World Cup qualifiers feels somewhat like a mini World Cup in that sense
No one has sympathy for you 😂
I can see France making the World Cup final again in 2026, they’ll probably win their 3rd World Cup then. Also I can’t believe how France absolutely demolished Gibraltar 14-0 a couple days ago.
International football is great, even outside World Cup/Euros/Copa. The football may not always be as good as in the Top 5 leagues or Champions League, but it is a lot more competitive and unpredictable.
It was only 12 months ago mate. You're talking like you're reminiscing about a bygone era. 😂
My father was alive a year ago.
That's why I don't understand what they don't go to places like the United States more because we have 32 football stadiums that can hold at least 60,000 people don't have to build anything. They're constantly being used and it won't financially cripple the country that hosts
WHAT THE FUCK IS A KILOMETER !!?????
It’s likely because the fifa officials won’t get as many bribes from the dictators they’re in bed with.
@@goldenace8847Okay, we can work this out. A "meter" is a thing to measure the use of things: a "gas meter" measures your gas use, while a "speedometer" measures your, um, Speedo use. "Kilo" is apparently a unit used only in the drug trade. Seems to me, therefore, that a "kilometer" is a device to measure your drug use.
Isnt the next one in US
They want to host the Summer Olympics? Do they want the athletes to die or something?
I just want to say congratulations on your runners up in the Football Content Awards..... I may be biased but you were ROBBED for the win
I think we all knew this would happen, but it doesn't make it less sad. Some of those stadiums were beautiful, and with some like 974 designed to be taken down and sent to another countries, it's a travesty that they'll just be dilapidated in 5 years time...
5.13 is not Daegu stadium in Korea and the stadium in Daegu is still maintained and used to this day, >20 years after World Cup 2002.
To think so many Nepalese (my country) died to build these stadiums.
Oh man, as a Bangladeshi for me this is heartbreaking. For us these are real people with families but for them they're just numbers.
@@durjoybarua5341 At least the Nepali government implemented a minimum salary rule for their citizens working in Qatar...The Bangladesh govt did NOTHING for their citizens working their.....& boy did the Bangladesh workers suffer the most...
love the videos big man
The US could probably host a World Cup with 6 months notice
They already hosted one World Cup. But the US is not a great place for these events, as public transport is almost non existent and hotel prices are insane during these tournaments. And they have the same rules as Qatar, when it comes to drinking beer in the street, which is something most football fans like to do.
U.s have no actual football stadiums
They have several professional football leagues@@callumatkins6891. Both male and female. Many of the stadiums are being conversted from American football to real football when the games are on. But it's one of the 10 most popular spectator sports in the US these days.
More like a 2 notice week depending on the time of the year. The summer when the NFL and college football not playing will make it super easy. Also the USA has more than 200 stadiums with more than 40,000 seating capacity. 🗽 🇺🇲
@@biking-viking-claus-andersen Cry harder 🇺🇲🗽
That’s the benefit with a majority of the stadiums for the North American 2026 World Cup.
The stadiums will continue to be used regularly, for other sports and events after the World Cup.
The most that’s being done is cosmetic remodeling in some stadiums.
However it’s not like new stadiums are being built from the ground up.
I think Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, is getting the largest remodel out of all the stadiums that will host the tournament.
The facilities are already in place, they’re just waiting for the tournament to start.
The stadiums hasn't been demolished and downsized because they are used to host the Asian Cup in January. Do this video again in 2025.
Exactly. This video is stupid
The reason why the Stadiums barely changed is most likely because Qatar host the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in january/february
South Africa and Brasil needed new hospitals and roads etc now those stadiums don't excist or abandoned, russia stadiums are mostly empty. But apart from france and Germany all the others have been proven as bribes by country's to fifa
Russia needed those hospitals and roads too... can't believe they got to host a World Cup just four years after invading Ukraine for the first time!
One option could be to combine all the main football clubs in Qatar (considering that they are almost all based in the Doha region) into a single Doha Based Football Club, one that could then apply to join the Saudi Pro-League.
Then at least one of the stadiums would be regularly used.
The football clubs are owned by various families & individuals...There's ALOT of elite pride, ego, local rivalry, competitiveness, showing-off, power, influence & yes, the usual small-scale corruption involved in owning these clubs that those involved would never give up.
I was going on a flight from Doha to Houston. I saw Al-Bayt staduim(the one shaped like a tent). I was trying to find Lusail but could not find it. Sad to see they are unused now.
I've been to their airport. It was so massive...up to 20 mins walk from check in to boarding. No ways they'd have much use for all that space past the worlk
I was in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, and I can say it was the most amazing trip I have been on. The Qatari people were so nice and friendly. One time, I was lost walking around Doha and some locals just came up to me (I obviously looked like a foreigner) and asked if I needed any help and then proceeded to help me ... they walked with me around 5 blocks to place I wanted to go to!!!
For me, the legacy of the 2022 World Cup is that it will probably be the best ever. You could attend so many games in one city! The stadiums and transport were top notch!!! It was so convenient!!!
When Qatar was first given the World Cup, people said that such a small country with no football pedigree could not pull it off, but Qatar proved all those people wrong. Qatar 2022 was amazing and Qatar did a wonderful job!!!
They weren’t Qatari, Qataris don’t walk 100m let alone 5 blocks 😂
Qataris don't help anyone except themselves, their family members & anyone that can make them a fast profit....Those people who helped you definitely were not locals....
@@edchapmansvideos well they looked like locals, they seemed to know the area well and they were wearing the Qatari thobe ... if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck!!!
@@_Ben4810 I don't know your experiences with Qataris but this was mine!!! Maybe I was just lucky, but I don't think so!!!
Wasted petro dollars by a non footballing nation. Shame on Fifa and Infantino.
Great show. . . Slighrly off this videos topic ... Portugal aside, have you been following Luxemburgs progress 🇱🇺
Great Video that posed more questions than answers, Alfie.
Do you know what it's all about?
I mean, if they don’t want that “temporary” stadium I can have it off them! I’m a wolves fan and molinuex is getting on a bit so I can paint it off-orange!
I suspect that Qatar never had any serious intentions of actually following up on any of their post-World Cup promises, nor did FIFA expect them to. They got to have their moment in the spotlight and spared no expense in getting it. Now the show's over, they don't care anymore. Those stadiums and the people who built them have served their purpose and can now be discarded.
Qatar just hosted the Asian cup and had the highest total attendance in the history of the tournament tho
Another banger, Alfie
Motorsports have been racing at Lusail since 2004, long pre-dating the city and it's sportswashing reputation by almost 20 years. MotoGP raced there yesterday. The circuit is just 3 miles from the National Execution Centre.
The 2022 WC should never ever been awarded to Qatar, now these expensive stadiums are white Elephants, what a monumental waste.
2018 was also corrupt. England should have hosted it, not Russia.
What happened to the slaves? Are they still trapped in Qatar? Are they dead? Were they shipped to Saudi-Arabia, to build another few stadiums?
And now Ill compare it to my Poland's 2012 euro stadiums. The National Stadium in Warsaw is home of the national team and usually its full, and three other stadiums are homes of Lech, Śląsk and Lechia, clubs from biggest Polish cities, and currently Śląsk is our league's leader, Lech just played in Conference League last year and achieved quarterfinals, and Lechia was in conference league qualifiers last year (sadly they are now in the polish 2nd tier but they are very likely to come back sooner or later). All of these teams have many fans, the stadiums are guaranteed to stay in use. It sucks that World Cup hosts stadiums usually end up unused. Time for World Cup in England I guess. Or maybe France, Germany and Italy? Or France, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium? Would be cool to see something like this, we know were gonna need more stadiums with more teams participating so...
will they not be used for the upcoming AFC Asian cup?
To be fair, most of the stadia in South Africa are also used for rugby, an immensely popular sport in South Africa (possibly even threatening football) . Not sure any of the previous hosts can really use their stadia for another sport that can come close to filling the seats
Soccer will always be king in SA bruh. Also none of the rugby teams that play in world cup stadiums actually fill them up.
Ah Qatar,
you will find no Richer hide of Scum and Villainy
Great video
Even the World Cup in Germany had a useless Stadium: Leipzig. The local Clubs only played in 3rd/4th tier and only used it for high risk derbys. Red Bull only came a few years later, so the stadium at least got a purpose later on
After all the recent events that have happened you just have to make a video about Bulgarian football
I drive past them everyday and I can tell you absolutely nothing. The Asia cup is here next year at least.
Lusail has been added to the Asian Cup 2023. It will host the opening and the final match.
Great video. Maybe you can find a different place to record your voice-over? The slight room echo is kind of annoying once you start noticing it
Thank you, Alfie, for circling back to this topic. Your commitment to holding corporations, nations, and governing bodies accountable is why I love this channel. ❤❤❤
Why didnt Qatar host a world cup with 2 stadiums or 3 max on that stadium that they already had they could build just two more and scheduling would be bit jammed but bigger disaster would have been avoided, Fifa could really relaxed some rules for them as they have already done so much
Qatar wouldn't have been satisfied just having 2 or 3 flashy new stadiums. They have obscene amounts of money that they had to flex during the month the world was watching them cause of this tournament.
Additionally I'm guessing that more matches in less stadiums would be less appealing cause:
1. More matches per day means less prime time matches if they keep it in the same time frame. So probably less money for the TV networks, which would probably piss them off
2. Extending the length of the world cup would cut into the club schedule even more, which would probably cause backlash from clubs
The pitch can't handle 30 games in a month
I mean, the turf needs mainteance and FIFA has their criterias.
Qatar were actually supposed to build 2 more stadiums as part of their submitted & approved tournament bid...But in true Qatari style, they miraculously wriggled their way out of building these....
Ok didnt expect thst story at the end about jj forgetting his keycard
The London Olympics venues are used for different purposes like the Aquatics Centre, Basketball, hockey and West Ham.
Brother, i'm argentinian
I say this admiting that the brasilians are the best national team in history and that they produce more players than anybody
But for the love of god, stop saying that brazil are the most obsessed country with football, they're not. As much as they like football, they see it as an entretainment. That can be seen on the quantity of managers that they have, they don't obsese on football at the point of thinking on the game everyday. Furthermore, they don't have a level of atachment to the club thats indisivible; every great player that returns to the league bounces to multiple clubs, in some instances never returning to their chilhood or formative clubs even. Their level of passion or compromise to the game does not compare to ours, the uruguayians or the scottish. I am saying this as objetive as i can. Just imagine this countries with a population of more than 200 millions.
They are better and bigger in many aspects, but obsession or passion are not in there.
Sorry for the bad english btw
Love the channel
I really don't care about who likes football more in south america, how on earth would you objectively measure that? If makes you happy to think that, then ok, but some of this is simply not true from my personal experience.
I would say a lot of people do talk about football everyday. Everybody has a club and most know how their club is doing at the championship and pretty much everybody knows what's going on with the national team, even those who doesn't watch regularly. I live in a small city with 20k people and there is people who travel 400km every week to go to the stadium at the capital to support their clubs.
And we have a lot of players who come back to their clubs and become legends like Kaká, Luiz Fabiano, Romario was the top scorer in 2005, Fernandinho is playing for Paranaense, Marcelo won Fluminense their first Libertadores and Hernanes who came back from europe and saved my team from relegation in 2017. We don't have just two big clubs, we have like 13.
Hey Alfie, huge fan. I'm from South Africa and I can sadly say that the 2010 legacy is nothing but a farce and embarrassment. The iconic 'soccer city' stadium, which has a 90k capacity is now used As a venue for artist events and church function venue. The team that plays its games there, Kaizer Chiefs can't even fill 25% of the stadium on average. Some of the stadiums around the country have become vacant, dormant domes. These hosts are not interested in the footballing legacy, or the sport in general. They just want to make profit and promote their countries then dash. 💔
Seems FIFA is increasingly making poor choices for hosts
Dude stadiums all over the world are used for concerts and other events. Let me guess, you're a yt South African?
@@celimpilo8487 same thing I was thinking. Just a whiny South African looking for any opportunity to say something bad. Before Soccer City, there was 72k capacity FNB stadium. There's always been a massive stadium in that location since I've been born, but blame it on the world cup so you can feel offended by one more thing today. There's nothing wrong with arenas hosting concerts. Do you know how many events Wembley hosts compared to a sports match? I hare these types of people so much and I'm glad I don't live amongst them any more
Who is paying you to lie?
@@taumaserumule1073 it's you ignoring the fact that the stadiums are underused. Your PSL teams play in dirty, neglected pitches while the gatekeepers aren't doing anything about the stadiums I'm lying about. Don't act like you don't know what is happening
Good vid, no surprise to see how empty the stadiums have ended up. On a side note, please speed up your narration!
I know it was nowhere near your point but for every stadium I think it was them apart from 974 , you saying they plan to build shopping centres and hotels. All I could think was that sounds like the most tedious place on earth!
Like I say, nowhere near your point , but imagine after being dragged around all those shops and you can’t even just go and have a beer afterwards!
I love your videos, keep it up! 🙂
People died making them which is the saddest part, or according to Qatar propaganda very little died 🐑
Justice for the workers.
i love your videos but this one is not entirely true. the asian cup is ongoing and surprisingly pulled big crowds averaging 40,000 for many games, except those from countries with small populations/too far or too poor to afford travel, and those that were scheduled during work hours. Stadium 974's structure is still there, but some parts have been visibly dismantled. edit: heard they're hosting the next arab cup too.
Opening game of AFC Asian Cup had 82,490 attendees. You can check for other games yourself, way above 13,000. And it's Qatars stadiums, so they can do with them what they want.
Need you to make a video about the Jamaica fifa world cup project which was to build a training facility after they went to the 98 world cup and the corruption around the issue and the their FA
Its the same every time.. But I still say South Africa takes the prize.. Burning down slums with people inside to build their useless stadiums.. They never even finished the roads to the stadiums.. I used to drive past the workers sleeping while political diaputes raged on. Some estimate 50,000 were killed or displaced to build those stadiums.. Haven't watched a WC since. Then it was Brazil.. Russia.. Qatar... Its like a joke!!
It exactly what Brasil did on both occasions with Olympics also being there at the same time, Qatar did knock houses down too but not on the same scale
Outside of Europe? What stadium in 94 was left abandoned? And what stadium is being built that doesn’t already function in the US for the next World Cup?
Giants Stadium?
@@yudhabagaskara98but it wasn't just built for football tho
@@yudhabagaskara98It was used until it was demolished. To make way for Metlife stadium.
@@Jumpman6352I think most of the 90s major stadiums in the USA have either been replaced or massively renovated.
World cup final event with 16 teams would need just 4-8 stadia to happen: 1-2 per group (6 matches per group), and the same stadia for QF, SF, and final.
All this actually doesn’t matter at all as long as the WC brings profit despite the stadiums not being used after. The problem is the humanitarian concern in rushing building them when you!re clearly not ready
One of the worst ever FIFA World Cups and as I know,some of the stadiums have been demolished and built as a type of a building,good friends!!!
One of the worst... Thus far... I'm looking at you, Saudi Arabia 2030...
@@dvdv8197Of course,but I myself am not even watching any International football matches,good friend!!!🙏
@@dvdv8197And to think that Australia & New Zealand could have been hosts of the World Cup in 2034, after successfully hosting the Women's World Cup this year.