Qatar shares 2022 World Cup hosting knowledge with Morocco for 2030 edition

Qatar, who hosted the 2022 World Cup, have recently organised a knowledge sharing event with Morocco, who are expected to be the joint-hosts of the 2030 World Cup.

The event was aimed at transfering the knowledge and experience of Qatar in hosting a global tournament with the African nation.

The knowledge transfer event was orgnaised by Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) on the sidelines of the Qatar-Africa Business Forum in Marrakesh, Morocco.

A delegation of the SC hosted counterparts from Morocco as part of the Qatar-Morocco 2024 Year of Culture. During the discussion, they explored key areas of Qatar’s preparations and delivery for the 2022 edition as well as key challenges and lessons learned throughout journey.

The workshop featured multiple topics including key achievements, tournament operations, host country infrastructure and operations, tournament experience, workforce, volunteers, enabling laws and more.

Eng Ghanim Al Kuwari, who is the SC Deputy Director General for Technical Services, touched on the importance of the 2022 World Cup being held in an Arab country.

"Ever since we bid for the FIFA World Cup, we have envisioned it as being a tournament for Qatar, the Arab world and the entire Middle East and North Africa region. And while we are proud that in 2022 we were able to showcase the best of our culture and people to the world, our vision for a regional tournament does not end there, but also extends to ensuring that wherever we can, Arab and Muslim countries benefit from our experience. Gatherings such as this event embody this sentiment and the regional legacy of Qatar 2022, and we look forward to continued collaboration with our Moroccan counterparts to ensure the success of their hosting experience," he said.

Mouad Hajji, General Coordinator of the Morocco 2030 Bid Team, said: “We are very grateful to our Qatari colleagues for organising this insightful and valuable knowledge transfer session on how Qatar delivered the best FIFA World Cup ever. From planning through to delivery and experience, we benefitted tremendously from learning about how Qatar was able to organise the event with such great success, the challenges faced and lessons learned. We look forward to continued and fruitful cooperation between us, and have no doubt that this is only the start of a long and collaborative road between the two countries as we rapidly approach 2030.”

The 2030 FIFA World Cup will mark 100 years of the global tournament and will be held across 20 cities in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

There are also centenary special matches planned in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to commemorate the first-ever World Cup in 1930 which was held in Uruguay.

Morocco's co-hosting is significant as it brings the World Cup to North Africa for the first time ever, sharing a similarity with Qatar in the sense that 2022 edition was the first-ever World Cup in the Middle-East.

The 2022 World Cup was one of the most successful editions in terms of attendance and fan experiences, especially given that it was oen of the first large scale global sporting event to take place with fans post Covid-19 pandemic.

Morocco will hope to implement the learnings and experience that they gained from Qatar to make sure the 2030 edition is memorable.