Doha: Arrangements are almost over at Lusail City in Qatar for the FIFA World Cup. The city has attracted global attention as the Lusail Stadium – the venue of the football world cup – is located here. The first world cup match at the 80,000-seat stadium is scheduled on November 22 between Argentina and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the stadium is hosting a trial tournament from September 9 to evaluate the conditions.
Incidentally, Lusail Stadium has already been the venue of several other sports events. They include the world handball championship in 2015, Formula 1 grand prix and MotoGP.
Lusail – 23 km from Doha city – was the seat of Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, the architect of modern Qatar. The term Lusail is derived from the Arabic word, Al Wasel. Decades after Sheikh Jassim called the place Lausail, the Qatar administration decided to turn the area into an ultra-modern city and construction started in 2005.
Spread over an area of 3.8 crore square feet, Lusail City can accommodate four lakh people and is among the world’s biggest smart cities. Beautiful marinas, picturesque walkways lined with palm trees, top-class hotels, luxury villas, sports facilities, cafes, entertainment centres and commercial streets make the place attractive for visitors. In fact, work on most of these projects was launched much before Qatar was selected as the FIFA World Cup 2022 venue.
Local transportation facilities include Doha Metro, Lusail tram, e-scooters and taxis. Built by the firm Qatari Diar, Lusail City contributes in a big measure to the economy of Qatar.