The USD 675 million stadium that Qatar will use for this 12 months’s World Cup closing was put by way of its first sellout take a look at Friday with a match between the Egyptian and Saudi champions. Seventy-two days from the beginning of the match, organisers mentioned the 80,000 capability Lusail Iconic Stadium was full for the pre-match live performance by Egyptian celebrity Amr Diab and the sport by which Al Hilal beat Egyptians Zamalek on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Lusail was the final stadium to be formally inaugurated and Hassan Al-Thawadi, head of the Qatari organising committee, mentioned it was “an emotional moment”.
“It is the culmination of a 13-year journey,” he advised beIN Sports.
The stadium, formed like a conventional Arabic bowl, is on the coronary heart of a brand new metropolis being constructed north of the tiny Gulf state’s capital. It will host 10 World Cup matches, together with the December 18 closing.
No extra video games are deliberate earlier than the match begins on November 20 nevertheless.
The recreation was a take a look at run for safety, the border immigration system and the multi-billion greenback driverless practice metro that may take the pressure, ferrying a couple of million followers round Doha throughout the World Cup.
To take stress off the principle worldwide airport, Qatar this week reopened an outdated airport that had been stored to be used by the ruling household and different VIPs.
Hundreds of Saudi and Egyptian followers crossed the Abu Samra frontier in buses, after leaving their vehicles on the Saudi aspect.
All needed to apply for a particular fan ID, the Hayya card, that every one supporters might want to enter Qatar throughout the World Cup.
The processing system in a tent at Abu Samra was getting used for the primary time. Qatari authorities predict 1000’s of Saudis to help their nationwide staff throughout the match.
“We entered with just our passport and the Hayya card,” mentioned Muhammad Mujahid, an Egyptian residing in Saudi Arabia. “It was simple and well-organised.”
“We hope that this is a promising start for a good World Cup for all the Arab world,” mentioned one other Zamalek supporter Ahmed Mohi El-Din Othman.
FIFA’s determination in 2010 to award the World Cup to Qatar has been criticised due to the mega-rich nation’s therapy of international staff and the LGBTQ group.
But FIFA president Gianni Infantino has mentioned it is going to be the “best-ever” World Cup and that international followers can have an expertise like a “child going to Disneyland for the first time and seeing the attractions and the toys”.
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FIFA says that 2.45 million of the three million tickets have been offered and {that a} closing spherical of on-line gross sales can be held later this month.
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