The Peninsula
As the World Cup enters the last-four stage, Qatar authorities particularly the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) have continued to win praise for successful hosting of the FIFA World Cup – the first edition of the tournament being hosted in the Middle East and the Arab world.
From football superstars, coaches and officials to the fans travelling from across the globe, Qatar’s “perfect” organisation has enchanted all those involved dumping all the negative propaganda against the historic edition of the football showpiece.
The three weeks of thrilling action at eight state-of-the-art stadiums were fun-filled with no untoward incident recorded at any venue, packed throughout the 60 matches played so far. The entertainment activities planned by the SC are in full swing with FIFA Fan Festival at Al Bidda Park welcoming thousands of fans on daily basis.
Qatar is close to reaching the one-million mark in receiving the touring fans and the way the authorities have managed to organise the matches and all the World Cup-related activities in the most compact World Cup in modern history smoothly is incredible.
Qatar’s world-class organisation has impressed the competing teams and officials as the Netherlands coach Louis Van Gaal said: “Everything is very perfectly organised, the facilities here are the best.”
Cristiano Ronaldo repeatedly praised the country’s organisation, saying he was extremely impressed with his experience in Qatar. The Portugal superstar found Qatar superb and stunning with best arrangements for transportation, hospitality, stadiums and facilities being made, according to QNA.
Tunisian star Hannibal Mejbri said Qatar has made all Arabs proud with their excellent hosting of the World Cup.
“As professional footballers we need some good facilities and we got them in Qatar,” Mejbri, who plays for Birmingham City, on loan from the Manchester United, told The Peninsula.
“We had everything close to us. The hotel was perfect and food was good everything was perfect in Qatar. There was nothing to complain about and that was for me a great experience,” he said.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa also commended Qatar for “exceptional” job.
“The Qatar Football Association, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy and the Qatari authorities as well as FIFA have done an exceptional job thus far and we know they’ll continue to deliver a truly befitting celebration as the tournament progresses,” he said.
The unique edition of the Qatar World Cup is giving fans an experience that they will remember for a long time.
“It’s fantastic, we love it as Qatar is really, really great. We are staying in the Souq area so we are having a lot of fun,” England fan Steve, who gave his first name, said in a post on social media.
“We have been here for three weeks and it’s been very nice from day one,” he added.
Another England fan Saem, said: “We feel very safe here much more than we would in the UK and especially as a female we are pleasantly surprised with the sense of security in Qatar.”
Zyana, who has travelled from Colombia, said: “People here are very friendly and welcoming. I am very happy so far. I am not worried it is pretty safe in Qatar.”
Foreign sports journalists covering the World Cup said Qatar has proved that an Arab country can host a World Cup with great success.
“The terrifying and horrific image promoted by the West about Qatar, and about the Arabs in general, is different from the reality we witnessed in this country,” QNA quoted Mexican journalist Ignacio Suarez, as saying.
“It is true that the Arab-Islamic culture differs from our culture, but we have to understand and accept it. Each of us is different from the other, and we have to accept each other in order to coexist. We must admit that Qatar and the Arab world that we see is completely different from what we used to hear in Western media.”