Major Western firms delivering stadiums for the Qatar 2022 World Cup are "drawing up contingency plans to leave the Emirate if the diplomatic row engulfing the Middle East is not resolved," according to Iain Withers of the London TELEGRAPH. Sources said that multiple multi-national building firms are "working on departure or downsizing plans for their Qatar teams," as ongoing trade sanctions "threaten to derail" the £160B ($207.3B) building program the country needs to finish to host football’s top tournament. British and American firms are "playing leading roles on World Cup stadium projects," including architects Foster + Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects, which have designed a venue each, engineer Arup and U.S. program managers CH2M and Aecom. A source at a World Cup supplier "warned fresh sanctions threatened by the UAE last week could shift the dial in favour of companies leaving." The source said, "Should further sanctions come in companies will have to reassess their investment and their presence in Qatar. If the risk profile changes we would take evasive action to protect our investments and our people" (TELEGRAPH, 7/2).
