Match ticket holders of the 2022 FIFA World Cup will not need visas to enter Qatar. The announcement was made at a media conference here on Thursday by representatives of the World Cup organising committee who declared that Hayya cards would suffice and they would be valid for multiple entries.
India has around 24,000 people going into the last round of sales this month.
“Each Hayya card holder can also invite up to two non-match ticket holders for a fee (yet undecided) to Qatar. Those below 12 years old will not be charged,” said Yasir Al-Jamal, director general of the Supreme Committee entrusted with delivering the first World Cup in an Arab country.
Every valid ticket holder would get accommodation, he said.
The Hayya card is a personalised document that each ticket holder must download and possess. It can serve as a one-stop shop for accommodation and intra-city transport. Entries will be valid from November 1.
Seventy days before kick-off, Nasser Al-Khater, FIFA World Cup Qatar CEO, said the country was ready in terms of infrastructure and transportation. “We are applying the icing on the cake now, as they say, the aesthetics,” he said.
The economic gains from the World Cup cannot be assessed now, Khater said. “But at last count, it was 17 billion dollars and I hope it has gone up now.”
Cost, Khater said, needed to be divided into two parts: that related to the World Cup and that on infrastructure. “As far as the cost of the World Cup goes, we are in line if not less than some of the past three World Cups,” he said.
Infrastructure such as airports, and metro were decided before Qatar won the bid in 2010, said Al-Jamal. “The World Cup was a catalyst.”
Going forward, Qatar plans to host the 2030 Asian Games and have bid for the 2023 Asian Cup football finals after China pulled out owing to its zero-Covid policy, he said. “In the years to come, we want to host the Olympics.”
Qatar has built seven stadia and renovated one for the November 20-December 18 World Cup. The country is expecting 1.2 million visitors during football’s biggest event.
