When I first came to Qatar , I felt that this was " Dune " written by Frank Herbert , which shone into reality: the world's third-largest natural gas reserves and the fourteenth-largest oil reserves are like the "spices" that touch the universe on the planet Errasco; ten foreigners "serve" one's wealth gap; planting a tree is more expensive than raising a person; of course, there is the new Lucerne city that is a bit bizarre under the sun...
The futuristic Lucerne New City
The building with a strong sense of design in the center of Doha
After more than thirty days of "in-depth tour", you will find that Doha, Qatar, is very much like an "Internet celebrity": I am eager to be as famous as the UAE's Dubai , and urgently need to be recognized by the world.
20 billion US dollars, eight stadiums, 64 games, four subway lines, two airports, more than 3 million tickets and 1.2 million foreign tourists... Judging from the paper strength of money piled up, the Qatar World Cup is undoubtedly successful, but the actual feelings and experiences may be the most say in the reporter who has been able to complete the whole journey, run through eight venues and dozens of games.
Doha town
No one doesn’t say it’s tired
On the eve of the final, many Chinese journalists posted World Cup tickets on their circle of friends. Several lucky and physically strong peers ran more than 30 games. Many old reporters say that the number of competitions running this World Cup is more than the total number of World Cups in the past few World Cups combined.
Qatar's land area is very small. If the unmanned areas and deserts in the northwest are removed, the entire country is smaller than most provincial capital cities in China.
At two o'clock in the morning, the media center and other reporters who are "Uber "
In the early morning, reporters who lined up outside the Bay Stadium for buses
The geographical distance between the eight venues is not far. From the northernmost Bay Stadium to the southernmost janubu Stadium, it is only 70 kilometers. Many reporters have "double competitions for a day" in the group stage. It sounds like you don’t feel tired, but in fact, what’s tormenting is the cost of transportation time. You go out two hours in advance before the game, and you can go home two hours after the game. In addition, the game itself is two hours, and it takes at least six hours to interview a game. In order to save time, the reporter has tried various "arrangement and combination" methods, such as subways, taxis, and media shuttles. The conclusions are: subway, rental fees (long walking time); media shuttle fees (long ride). An old reporter was sleeping while standing on the subway at 1 a.m.; at 2 or 3 a.m., you can see reporters sitting on the edge of the exit of the media center while waiting for an online car-hailing car.
Janubu Stadium resting on the lawn
Of course, compared to the exhaustion, is the happiness of intensive competitions. "Enjoy is definitely enjoyment, because there has never been a World Cup that can watch so many games." Zhang Nan, a senior media person who interviewed four men's World Cups and three women's World Cups and three women's World Cups and , said, "I talked to fans who have watched more than 20 games before. They were very excited before coming. This World Cup started their dream of chasing the World Cup. Then today I met him and said that the United States, Mexico and Canada (2026 World Cup) are not going to go. The fans are very tired, but in fact it is even more tired for us."
Three reporters passed away
This World Cup, the two semi-finals held, the news centers of the Bay and Lucerne Stadium, both set up mourning corners. "I have interviewed so many World Cups and Olympics, and three colleagues died in one major competition, which has never been before." Samba Pratish, a reporter from Indian Sports who followed four World Cups and two Olympics, sighed.
Bay Stadium Media Center mourned the three journalists who died
Many reporters left messages on the memorial book
What makes people feel even more sad is that Grant Val, a famous American football reporter and Khalid, a photojournalist of Qatar Sports Channel Al-KassTV, passed away within 48 hours. Both interviewed Argentina and Netherlands quarter-finals. Grant Val, who was writing the article, fell in the media seat in the second half of stoppage time. He was sent to Hamad Hospital after 20 minutes of rescue, but failed to save his life. Subsequently, American media reported that Val's cause of death was aortic dissection tumor. Khalid died after that game. The specific reason was not announced, but some media revealed that it was heart disease .
Another reporter is Roger Pierce, technical director of British ITV ITV sports channel. He retired at the age of 65. Qatar is Pierce's eighth World Cup, but his heartbeat has stopped when he was found lying in a hotel room three weeks ago. After the semi-finals of the "British-French War", British Independent Television mourned him on the live broadcast.
Most of the media reporters who interviewed Qatar were suffering from new crown and flu. One reason is that the air conditioning in the stadium is huge, and there are air outlets on the legs and back of the media mat. It is normal to wear down jackets on the stadium in the evening games. In the afternoon game, I walked into the stadium under the scorching sun and immediately put on my coat to prevent wind. The repeated bombardment of cold and hot made many reporters sick.
Another reason is that the schedule of the game time is embarrassing. The four groups of the group stages range from 1:00 pm, 4:00 pm, 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm. Almost every game misses the meal time perfectly. Only at 10 o'clock in the evening can you have a little casual dinner, but when you return to your hotel or your residence, it is almost three or four o'clock in the morning.
Late-night media center rushes to wait for the car
Late-night reporters waiting in the mixed interview area
8 days, intensively bombarded 64 games, and most of the reporters fell ill. What is even more regrettable is that these three colleagues failed to get up again.
The next stop is the Olympics
Qatar has always paid great attention to hosting large-scale sports events. It can also be read from the government's vision for 2030. Get rid of the single dependence on energy. Humanities and tourism are the future of Qatar. From 006 Doha Asian Games to 011 Qatar Asian Cup , 2018 World Gymnastics Championships, and 2019 World Track and Field Championships, Doha holds international competitions very frequently in the Middle East. But even with experience in organizing comprehensive events, the Qatar World Cup has been criticized by many old reporters: chaotic shuttle buses, inconvenient transportation and cumbersome security checks. Indian journalist Pratish even said, "This is the worst World Cup I have ever run."
However, some journalists affirmed the innovation of the Qatar World Cup. "There has never been a news center for the World Cup before. Qatar will bring teams and players to the news center to hold a press conference." Zhang Nan's opinion, this is probably unprecedented in the history of the World Cup. "It will definitely not be realized in the future. It can really be achieved only in Qatar."
Lucerne Stadium Media Work Area
Relying on the news center as a media transportation hub, this is a regular routine for comprehensive competitions, and Qatar used it in the World Cup, which is actually a rehearsal of their ambitions. "I think the entire Qatar Organizing Committee will do Qatar according to the Olympic Games. I talked to many people from the organizing committee and local Qatar people. What they are most proud of is hosting the World Cup. Many people said that their next goal is to bid for the Olympic Games. I think they are doing this goal.”
Desert rose shape Qatar National Museum
Art Museum installation art
Mirage is a common scene in Doha, half of the desert and half of the ocean, when those bizarre buildings appear in the clouds, they have a dream The 28-day World Cup journey is the most important stop in Qatar's path to increase international popularity by relying on sports competitions. After 28 days, is the starting point for Qatar to host the Olympics or a mirage worth $220 billion? This may be the fill-in-the-blank question that needs to be completed in the "post-World Cup" era of Qatar.
(Source: Cover News )
Editor: Han Luying
