FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021: LOC Reveals Tournament's Most Important Statistics

Doha, December 12 (QNA) - The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021 revealed the most important numbers and statistics of the 16-team tournament, currently hosted by Doha and continues until Dec. 18, under FIFA supervision. On Sunday, the LOC hosted a press conference in presence of Vice President of Operations for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Jassim Al Jassim, Executive Director of the Office of the Assistant Head of the Security and Safety Operations Committee for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Colonel Jassem Al Buhashem, Mobility Operations Director at the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) Abdulaziz Ali Al Mawlawi, and Media Expert at SC Mohammed Al Khanji. Jassim Al Jassim said, "Yesterday, we finished 28 matches out of 32 in the tournament, and we congratulate the teams that qualified for the semi-finals, namely Qatar, Tunisia, Egypt, and Algeria." He stressed that the Arab FIFA Cup Qatar 2021 is a great sporting entitlement organized by an Arab country and this hosting aims to take advantage of this experiment to ensure Qatar organizes the best version of the World Cup next year. He explained, "During the Arab Cup, we were able to test the readiness of six of the eight stadiums for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which are Al Janoub Stadium, Al Thumama Stadium, Stadium 974, Education City Stadium, Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, and Al Bayt Stadium. He said the semi-finals will be held at Al Thumama Stadium and Stadium 974, while Al Bayt Stadium will host the final match. He added, "We also tested the operations of the readiness of the training areas and camps for the teams participating next year in the World Cup, the establishment of teams and the experience of fans in this tournament, and we also tested in the group stage the fan card." Al Jassim pointed out that the tournament witnessed great coordination from all state agencies, especially that the organizing committee cannot alone make a tournament of this size successful, and thanked all state agencies for their role in making the tournament a success, especially the Ministry of Public Health, which developed health protocols for the tournament. Concerning the media presence in the tournament, he said that more than 750 journalists were accredited for the tournament, many of them from the Arab world. He said Qatar is witnessing the visit of nearly 100 representatives of the media holding the rights to broadcast the World Cup 2022 to prepare for their coverage next year. For his part, Executive Director of the Office of the Assistant Chairperson of the Safety and Security Operations Committee (SSOC) of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Colonel Jassim Al Sayed stressed that prior to this tournament - which is the biggest sporting event after the World Cup, the Security Committee of the World Cup and SSOC with its various units, has developed an integrated strategy and plans to ensure the security and safety of the participants, including officials, teams and fans in the country, as well as those coming from abroad. During the press conference, Colonel Al Sayed explained that all security authorities, represented by the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, Internal Security Forces and the Amiri Guard, participated in developing these plans, as well as conducting the necessary exercises to test their security preparedness regarding securing sports facilities, especially the entry and exit of guests, including officials and audience. He emphasized the Committee's keenness to facilitate the flow of traffic for all private and public transportation as well as to transport fans around the stadiums and the roads leading to them, adding that they activated and operated the joint operations rooms in the six stadiums to ensure their readiness with the use of the latest security communications systems, and their commitment to the safety and security of the fans. He concluded his speech by affirming that since the beginning of the tournament, no security problems or crises that require intervention of the security plans have been encountered, stressing the Committee's keenness to increase its efforts and focus on the security and safety of the participants in this tournament. For his part, Mobility Operations Director at SC Abdulaziz Ali Al Mawlawi affirmed that the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021 was a golden experience to present Qatar's preparations to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The most important of which was the coordination with all partners to determine the preparedness through infrastructure, transportation, and other organizational and coordination matters with the state's entities, to ensure better operations in the 2022 World Cup, he added. Al Mawlawi pointed out that the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has completed the construction of parking lots with a capacity of 62,000 vehicles in facilities of the Arab World Cup, adding that Qatar Rail has implemented nearly 170,000 trips to and from the stadiums during the matches. (QNA)