This interview with Qatar World Cup, I was a little "big". Although the World Cup has been reported on the spot for five consecutive days and its footprints are spread across Asia, Europe, Africa and South America, the Qatar World Cup held in Arab countries for the first time has indeed caused too many "new problems" to "old drivers".
Accommodation is too expensive
The first new problem is that accommodation is too expensive. The reporter went abroad for interviews, which are temporary overseas personnel, and relevant national authorities have specific standards for accommodation, food, etc. Qatar is a good oil, our standard for staying abroad in Doha is USD160 per night. Originally, this number was not low, but during the World Cup, prices soared. If this standard is strictly followed, I can only sleep on the street...
Picture description: One of the characteristics of the Qatar World Cup, fans stay in a white tent, but it also costs $207 a night.
Picture description: The apartment where I am located is the designated media residence of FIFA.
Qatar is the smallest host in the history of the World Cup, with only 2/3 of Beijing's territory and a permanent population of only 2.9 million, which is the population of Minhang District, Shanghai. Qatar hosted the World Cup, attracting about 1.5 million global fans influx. The local hotel industry has limited reception capacity and is under great pressure.
The local government can only rack its brains and "create something out of nothing". Fans around the world were surprised to find that when they came to Qatar to watch football, they could live in white tents in the desert, cruise ships at sea, and containers. Without exception, accommodation rooms are very expensive. Even the cheapest white tent costs $200 a night - this is the "starting price" of World Cup accommodation.
Picture says: The apartment room is around $400 per night, and does not include breakfast.
The author stays in an apartment in the Alhad region of the capital Doha. This is the media reception accommodation designated by FIFA . This apartment was specially designed and built for the World Cup and has been uninhabited after one year of completion. I and four colleagues from " Five-Star Sports " have become the first batch of residents here. In the past few days, 40 rooms have been "full" by global media reporters.
, a 2-bedroom apartment with 1 living room, had a total rent of more than 20,000 US dollars last month. According to the standards for accommodation abroad, this has long exceeded the world's most expensive German accommodation standard: 220 euros per night. It’s really because of my heartache. Every night before going to bed, I will warn myself: You must fall asleep as soon as possible. Sleeping one more minute is equivalent to making a profit!
The first main news center in history
The second new problem is that media services have changed a lot. Although FIFA has a strong foundation, it is actually quite stingy when it comes to hosting events and media services. After all, no one’s money is caused by the strong wind, and it is saved every penny. In Qatar, the author found that the host with a lot of imagination directly subverted and even reconstructed the media service process of the World Cup.
Picture description: MMC means the main news center. In the past, there was only this media work and service place in the Olympics.
First of all, the Qatar World Cup has learned from the Olympic media operation mode for the first time in history, setting up a main news center, which greatly facilitates the work and life of global journalists. At this time, we must sigh that the smallest host country has small benefits.
The 8-seater stadiums of the World Cup surround the capital Doha, are very close to each other, and the farthest is only 2 hours' drive away. In the past many World Cups, the host country has a vast territory and is far apart from cities. It is simply not feasible to replicate the one-stop main news center model of the Olympics. Qatar is a small place, but the host transformed Doha’s most advanced exhibition hall into a global journalist’s home, with media services "swept all in one place".
Here, reporters who want to be lazy don’t have to go to 8 stadiums at all, because they can participate in pre-match press conferences at the news center, and the top 32 coaches and team representatives take the initiative to send them to the media; the live video of the post-match press conference can also be easily handled in the news center, let alone watch all 64 games easily; of course, most dedicated and hardworking peers come here every day because this is the transportation hub of the media shuttle, and it is the most convenient and cheapest (free) option to go to the 8 stadiums.
Technology is too developed
In addition, the Qatar World Cup adopts many high-tech, intelligent and informatized measures, such as electronic media ticketing machines, virtual on-site rooms, etc. Taking the electronic media ticket machine as an example, in the past, I had to apply for a special media ticket. After obtaining FIFA approval, I had to arrive at the arena one hour before the start of the game. Otherwise, the ticket qualification will be cancelled and will be taken away by FIFA and distributed to other global peers who have no tickets but are waiting for the media list. In the past five World Cups, I often have to hurry up just to maintain my hard-won ticket qualification.
Picture description: The first time in the history of the World Cup has achieved electronic media ticket collection, and in the past, it relied on manual queues for invoices.
In Qatar, reporters who obtain ticket qualifications through electronic media ticket machines located in the main news center can print media tickets one day in advance and lock in the interview qualifications early. What if the reporter doesn’t go to the main news center? It's no problem. On the day of the game, the reporter can print and receive media tickets in the news center of the stadium where the event is located. The media tickets are very small in appearance, which is completely different from the tickets purchased by fans; the reporter's name is directly printed on the media tickets, avoiding media reporters from reselling tickets in a very small number of countries in the past to disrupt the market...
The Qatar World Cup has also created a record of media operation: the first time the world's old journalists ate a buffet work meal during the World Cup. In the past, the World Cup was held in a vast territory and many cities were far apart. Media reporters could only rush to the stadium of a certain city and ate a media work meal like a sauna, which often consisted of bread with salmon, potato with chicken breast and other set meals.
Picture description: The author’s media work buffet was at noon on the 23rd.
This time in Doha, the media work buffet was set up on the 2nd floor of the main media news. The price of a meal of 53 riyal (equivalent to about 100 yuan) is very fair and it is perfect. There are relatively rich varieties of media work buffets, including meat dishes, vegetables, staple foods, appetizers, fruits, soups, desserts, etc., and drinks such as Coca-Cola are also open to drinking. In response, a Japanese colleague said: "In terms of media dining, Beijing Winter Olympics has done much better than our Japanese Olympics, but when I came to Qatar, I think the media catering services of the World Cup are much better than those of the Olympics!"
new technologies and new models made me quite uncomfortable at the beginning, but this is a sweet worry. The author believes that with the continuous advancement of the Qatar World Cup, I, as an old driver, will definitely witness the "new topic" with the imprint of the times.
title image source: Qian Jun from Doha
text illustration: Qian Jun, Chen Hua from Doha
source: Author: Chen Hua from Doha
