Qatar is shutting its borders – land, sea and air – during the FIFA
World Cup tournament later this year. Anyone wanting to visit the nation
for reasons other than the World Cup soccer will be unable to enter.
Only football fans with a Hayya Card — a government-issued fan ID —
will be allowed into the country, although Qatari nationals, residents,
GCC citizens having a Qatari ID card, and anybody with a personal or
work visa, will be unaffected by the lockdown.
FIFA has sold 2.45 million of the three million available tickets for
the 20 November to 18 December tournament and to cope with the influx
of visitors, Old Doha International Airport will reopen ahead of the
World Cup.
Qatar says 130,000 rooms will be available during the tournament, split between hotels, apartments, cruise ships and tents.
As the time to kick-off ticks down, thousands of workers are racing
to finish off the luxury hotels that will accommodate FIFA officials and
their guests.
A spokesperson for the Accor group, which will operate the Fairmont
and Raffles hotels in the new Katara Towers, told the Gulf News both
properties would be ready for “FIFA guests” during the World Cup and
then officially open after the tournament.
For those soccer fans unable to get into Qatar, neighbour Dubai is
planning fan zones around the city with live World Cup matches being
broadcast on huge screens.