Qatar to house 2,000 fans in Bedouin-style tents

Doha (AFP) – Qatar unveiled plans on Tuesday for a “fan village” to house up to 2,000 football supporters in Bedouin-style tents during the 2022 World Cup.

Organisers said the village would be built in the south of the country and could eventually be one of five sites across Qatar offering tented accommodation.

“We will allow visitors from outside the country to enjoy Qatar and their football experience in an entirely new way,” said Abdulaziz Ali Al-Mawlawi, from the body overseeing organisation of the tournament, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.

The pilot project is to house 650 tents for fans on a 300,000 square metre site.

The closest stadium to the tents is the Al-Wakrah, around half-an-hour’s drive away. The venue will be used up to the quarter-final stages in 2022.

Tuesday’s announcement builds on a previous statement by organisers earlier this year to use tents for fans during the tournament.

As well as hotel accommodation, as many as 12,000 fans could also stay on cruise ships in 2022.

Up to one million fans could visit Qatar during the World Cup finals, organisers have claimed previously.