Menu
Facilities

Qatar's Barwa Group Unveils Plans For Island To House World Cup Fans

Qatar unveiled plans to build a $5.5B island "off the coast of Doha with floating hotels" to house football fans "expected to flock to the country" for the 2022 World Cup, according to Doherty & Menon of REUTERS. Plans for Oryx Island, which would feature luxury villas, a water park, and five floating hotels using cruise ships, "were unveiled by Qatari developer Barwa Real Estate, part-owned by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund." Barwa's CEO Abdulla al-Subaie said that "the hotels would be able to house as many as" 25,000 football fans. Subaie said, "We anticipate that there will be a short-term demand for hotel rooms, so maybe it is not wise to offer all these hotel rooms for only a short time. Cruise ships can be docked for one week, two weeks. It can be mobilized and demobilized for a short time" (REUTERS, 5/27). In N.Y, Tim Falconer wrote Barwa said that the Oryx Island "will use electrical vehicles, water taxis, ferries and private boats to transport visitors." The Oryx Island project is slated for completion in seven to eight years time. Estimates "on how much Qatar and the wider region will benefit from one of world’s most popular sports events vary," but the country is expected to spend at least $100B on infrastructure such as sports stadiums, hotels and transport. It is already "reaping the economic benefits of this with GDP expanding by 6.6% last year" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/27). INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL's Mark Baber reported Barwa "has denied its proposed Oryx Island & Gulf Resort projects, widely reported as planned to house World Cup fans, are in any way related to projects for the 2022 World Cup." A Barwa spokesperson said, "The Oryx Island & Gulf Resort are projects proposed by Barwa Real Estate in the waters of the Arabian Gulf to support the economy diversification plans in Qatar and not in any way related to the projects of the World Cup 2022" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 5/28).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2013/05/29/Facilities/Qatar-Fan-Island.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2013/05/29/Facilities/Qatar-Fan-Island.aspx

CLOSE