MARRAKECH: A delegation from the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy recently hosted a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 knowledge transfer event with counterparts from Morocco, who are expected to co-host the 2030 edition of the tournament along with Spain and Portugal.
Held in Marrakech, Morocco on the sidelines of the Qatar Africa Business Forum as part of the Qatar-Morocco 2024 Year of Culture, the event outlined key areas of Qatar’s preparations and delivery for the tournament, as well as key challenges and lessons learned throughout the road to 2022.
A host of topics were covered during the workshop, including key achievements, tournament operations, host country infrastructure and operations, tournament experience, workforce, volunteers, enabling laws and more. Attendees from Morocco included representatives of the Morocco 2030 bid team, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Sonarges, ONCF, ONDA and a number of ministries and stakeholders helping prepare for the event.
Eng Ghanim Al Kuwari, SC Deputy Director General for Technical Services, said: "It was a pleasure to share with our Moroccan counterparts key learnings and lessons learned from our journey in preparing for what was an incredibly successful tournament in 2022.”
"Ever since we bid for the FIFA World Cup, we have envisioned it as being a tournament for Qatar, the Arab world and the entire Middle East and North Africa region. And while we are proud that in 2022 we were able to showcase the best of our culture and people to the world, our vision for a regional tournament does not end there, but also extends to ensuring that wherever we can, Arab and Muslim countries benefit from our experience. Gatherings such as this event embody this sentiment and the regional legacy of Qatar 2022, and we look forward to continued collaboration with our Moroccan counterparts to ensure the success of their hosting experience.”
Mouad Hajji, General Coordinator of the Morocco 2030 Bid Team, said: "We are very grateful to our Qatari colleagues for organising this insightful and valuable knowledge transfer session on how Qatar delivered the best FIFA World Cup ever. From planning through to delivery and experience, we benefitted tremendously from learning about how Qatar was able to organise the event with such great success, the challenges faced and lessons learned. We look forward to continued and fruitful cooperation between us, and have no doubt that this is only the start of a long and collaborative road between the two countries as we rapidly approach 2030.”
The FIFA World Cup 2030 will be held across 20 host cities in Morocco, Spain and Portugal, with anniversary matches in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. It will be the first FIFA World Cup to take place in North Africa, the second to take place in the Arab world and the second to take place in Africa since 2010.
In 2022, Qatar hosted the most compact edition of the FIFA World Cup in modern history. From record-breaking attendance and football statistics, through to unique cultural experiences and events, Qatar 2022 was the most successful edition of the tournament. It set new benchmarks for the mega-events and sports industry and provided a blueprint for future hosts on how to organise such large-scale events sustainably.