Qatar unveils World Cup's first 'reusable' stadium

Qatar on Sunday unveiled the design for what it claims is the World Cup's first 'reusable' stadium, the seventh of eight expected venues that will stage games during the 2022 tournament. Ras Abu Aboud is a 40,000 seater stadium that will be built on Doha's southern waterfront and host matches up to the quarter-final stage. After the tournament the stadium will be taken down, with the parts put in to containers in the hope it will be reassembled and used elsewhere.
"This venue offers the perfect legacy, capable of being reassembled in a new location in its entirety or built into numerous small sports or cultural venues," said Hassan al-Thawadi, secretary-general of Qatar's World Cup organising committee. Among the materials used in the construction of the stadium are modified shipping containers, according to a statement from Thawadi's Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy. The stadium should be completed by 2020, said the committee.
The architects are a Madrid-based company, Fenwick Iribarren, who were also chosen to design another tournament venue, the Qatar Foundation stadium. Qatar has now revealed the designs for all venues expected to be used in 2022 except the Lusail Stadium, which will host the opening game and World Cup final. Although Qatar's initial bid was for up to 12 stadiums, it is now scheduled to play matches at just eight venues.
FIFA is yet to make a final decision on the number of stadiums to be used during 2022. Since controversially being chosen by FIFA to host the tournament in 2022, Qatar has found itself at the centre of a global storm. It has been criticised over human rights and labour abuses and blighted by allegations of corruption. Most recently it has found itself accused of supporting terrorism as part of a bitter dispute involving Doha and its Arabian Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain, as well as Egypt.
Thawadi said in Sunday's statement that the diplomatic crisis had not 'impacted' on Qatar's preparations for the World Cup. Qatar's government has said it is spending $500 million a week preparing for the World Cup. Finance minister Ali Shareef al-Emadi told local media earlier this month that 65 per cent of all World Cup projects have been completed. Earlier this year Qatar unveiled its first completed World Cup 2022 venue, the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, which will also be used to host the World Athletics Championships in two years' time.