The throngs of cheering football fans have long gone, but reminders of Qatar’s giddy moment on the global stage still dot Doha seven months on.
There are the spectacular stadiums that hosted last year’s World Cup, most of which are waiting to be either downsized or repurposed; one into a wedding complex, others into mall and hotel parks.
Along the corniche that was transformed into a fan zone during the tournament, hoarding boards promoting the football festival remain in place. A Fifa World Cup 2022 sculpture sits in the bay, dhows moored on the tranquil Gulf waters providing its backdrop.
It is as if Qatar is clinging to the last vestiges of the tournament as it ponders how to top its success in becoming the first Arab or Muslim state to host one of the planet’s biggest sporting events.
Qatar’s leaders insist there is no hangover. They are working on the next stage of the gas-rich state’s development, they say, the wealth and ambition that helped secure the World Cup undimmed. They describe their desire to create a “knowledge-based economy” and carve out a role as an “international problem solver”. There is talk of a bid for the 2036 Olympics.
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