FIFA, football’s global governing body, has announced a joint venture with Qatar that will seek to successfully deliver the 2022 World Cup in the Gulf nation.
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC will be responsible for the planning and delivery of operations and services for the national team tournament. FIFA said the venture will seek to create greater efficiencies and control of event planning and delivery to maximise the World Cup experience.
FIFA will hold 51 per cent of the LLC’s shares, with the Qatar 2022 Local Organising Committee to hold 49 per cent.
FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura, who will form part of the nine-member management board of the new LLC, said: “Today we take a major step in the organisation of the biggest single-sport event in the world.
“Created in accordance with the FIFA president’s vision and together with our Qatari counterparts, the joint venture aims to reorganise the way we work at the operational front and avoid inefficiencies. I am convinced that this new approach to planning, delivery and legacy, always hand in hand with our colleagues based in Qatar, will help to ensure that the World Cup continues to be the most eagerly awaited event by billions of fans worldwide.”
Joining Samoura on the management board will be FIFA’s two deputy secretaries general, Zvonimir Boban and Alasdair Bell; FIFA’s chief tournaments and events officer, Colin Smith; FIFA’s chief legal officer, Emilio Garcia Silvero; LLC Chairman, H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi; LLC chief executive, Nasser Al-Khater; QFA vice-president Saoud Al-Mohannadi and the chairman of the operational office and vice-chairman of the technical operational office of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), Eng. Yasir Al Jamal.
Smith will also serve as managing director of the new LLC, with Al Khater to take up the role of chief executive.
Al Thawadi, who also serves as secretary general of the SC, said: “The formation of this new joint venture comes at a strategically important time on Qatar’s World Cup project, as we shift our focus from delivering stadiums, training pitches and the transportation required for 2022, to fan and player experience and event operations.
“I am confident that the combination of FIFA’s extensive tournament experience, and our own tactical experience and the nine years’ hard work already invested in the project, will ensure that the first FIFA World Cup in the Arab world is one of the best ever.”
Image: FIFA
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