Qatar, which won the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in 2010, is cutting a third of the number of stadiums it planned on building for the event. The decision comes amid rising construction costs.
Ghanim Al Kuwari, the senior project manager of the organizing committee said in a conference in Doha Sunday that they have revised their number of stadiums to eight from the initial 12. While Al Kuwari didn't give a reason for the cuts, experts speculate that the rising cost of construction fueled the choice, reports Bloomberg.
"Their decision was motivated by cost-cutting following an assessment of the real needs on the ground. It does always make good sense to do necessary cost-cutting and reviews of capex for such huge projects that are front loaded," John Sfakianakis, chief investment strategist at investment company MASIC told the website in an e-mail.
Qatar was negotiating with FIFA on the number of stadiums since April 2013. Along with its new reduced stadium count, the government also announced the building of 92 training centers.
The total cost of the project is expected to exceed $95 billion. In March this year, the government revealed that it would increase spending by 3.7 percent.
A competition to re-design Lusail Stadium, the flagship venue for the event, was also scrapped last month, reports BD Online. Apparently, the project's committee didn't like any of the designs submitted and they were pretty expensive too. Officials explained that if a new competition was commissioned, it would set the developments back by a year.
When Qatar won the bid to host the world's most watched sports event, many questioned the country's ability to build the infrastructure needed to accommodate the event. Experts said Qatar was too slow in its preparations.
"In comparison to the earlier host countries, the infrastructure gap in Qatar is huge and is far from ideal. Hence an early preparation is vital for Qatar, particularly for expansion of its public transportation network," a 2012 government report pointed out.
However, officials recently told Construction Week Online that work on its planned stadiums is expected to start this year and their developments are on schedule.
"We are in the advanced stages of design work for six stadiums and this year we will see five stadiums begin the early works on foundations and construction," Yasser al-Mulla, project manager at Al-Rayyan Precinct for the country's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, told the publication.
Check out the five stadium's renderings in a video below:
