Hosting the Amir Cup final at the new Al Wakrah Stadium yesterday was a great moment for sports in general and Qatar in particular as it is an astonishing achievement to get the 40,000-seater venue, which will be hosting many Qatar 2022 World Cup matches, ready in record time and open it for one of the most important football matches in the country in front of a sell-out crowd deserves a loud applause for all those who worked behind the scenes to get the stadium ready as per international standards and also for the leadership for providing the right guidance and support to finish the project even after some unwanted actions from some of the neighbours.
More than 1,000 volunteers from various countries were part of the event, which was organised and managed to perfection, with all the state machineries coming together to make it a grand success. One of the Doha Metro lines, which facilitates transport to the station, was opened much ahead of the schedule and was a big help for thousands of fans to reach the stadium as Mowasalat had arranged many shuttle buses to ferry spectators from the Al Wakrah station to the stadium.
Doha Metro had also extended the train timings so that the fans could reach back home using the metro.
This is the second stadium after the Khalifa International Stadium to be ready for the Qatar 2022. Work are progressing at a fast pace in the other six stadiums and they are expected to be ready much ahead of schedule.
Al Wakrah Stadium, designed by celebrated Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, has a capacity of 40,000 seats and is just 23km from Doha city centre. The futuristic stadium will host matches up to the quarter-finals stage during Qatar 2022. The design is inspired by the sails of traditional dhow boats; in tribute to Al Wakrah’s seafaring past.
The first match to be played on the turf, which was laid in world record time, between football giants Al Duhail and Al Sadd provided the right atmosphere for a historic night. Al Duhail fought back from a goal’s deficit to win the match 4-1 for their second successive Amir Cup trophy.
