The FIFA World Cup has crossed the halfway mark after commencing on 20th November, and the final 16 teams have been chosen, and the host country, Qatar, had hoped that by the final on 18th December, the country will witness the coming of 15 lakh foreign tourists, but with receiving a better response than what was expected, not only Qatar but the gulf countries nearby are overwhelmed. Till the matches of the first round only, more than 8 lakh tourists have reached Qatar, and 28.9 lakh tickets have been sold.
In the wake of this response, it is being expected that fans will reach the country in record numbers, and even though Qatar is out of the World Cup race, but it has won the hearts of the fans all across the globe. As a matter of fact, Qatar took such an initiative to make the fans happy, which had never been done by any other country. Qatar dissolved the requirement of a visa for foreign tourists. Prior to the World Cup, questions were raised on Qatar’s alcohol policy and gay rights, but the country proved that if the will is strong enough, then anything is possible.
Even after the completion of 48 matches, not a single case of any ruckus or violence was reported. A number of steps taken by the administration is seeing the successful and smooth organization of the tournament in the host country. The police personnel were sent for a training to the Olympics and the national football league, and assistance was taken from the police forces of 13 countries, including the NYC police. In order to make a strategy related to alcohol, the 2019 FIFA World Cup was organized, and the ban on alcohol was the result of a lesson learnt from this edition of the tournament.
While the tournament is taking place, all the offices are opening for 4 hours only, and 80% of the staff is working from home, and the academic session has been extended by a month.
