As the world grapples with some uncomfortable questions days out from the most controversial World Cup ever held, Australians are entitled to ponder another big one: what if?
Given how badly Australia fared in the bidding process for this event — receiving just a single vote on that dramatic day back in 2010 — this is not exactly the World Cup that got away.
But had $46 millon in taxpayers’ money not been spent in vain — and had FIFA cleaned up its act earlier — it could have been Australia, not Qatar, at the the centre of the sporting universe over the coming month.
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Redemption awaits when Australia hosts next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup and a bid is being prepared to host the men’s event in either 2030 or 2034.
But for now Qatar’s $200 billion moment in the desert sun is about to arrive and this is how it’s shaping up, against how things might have been.
THE STADIUMS
Travelling around Doha it feels very much like a city still under construction just days out from the start of the tournament but the match venues look ready to go. And they are truly spectacular in scale and style.
One of the biggest selling points of Australia’s bid was its amount of ready-built stadiums while venues in Townsville, Newcastle and Geelong were to receive major upgrades had it been successful. Qatar, by comparison, had just one existing facility up to FIFA’s hosting standards — the Khalifa International Stadium
That wasn’t a barrier for the one world’s richest nations, though, with an estimated $US6.5bn spent to build the stunning catalogue of grounds — although fact the human cost of construction was so high has not been lost on the rest of the world.
THE CLIMATE
The Australian winter is ideal to host a major tournament and climate was unsurprisingly one of the biggest concerns when Qatar was announced as hosts.
The usual window for the World Cup falls in the Middle Eastern summer, sparking serious concerns for the welfare of fans and players — even with the groundbreaking air-conditioning technology being used inside stadiums.
The decision was made in 2015 to shift the event to November and while it’s caused unprecedented havoc with domestic football schedules, players and fans will be thankful.
Because the thing is, even though Qatar is approaching its winter, it’s still brutally hot.
Temperatures rise quickly from about 8am before reaching as much as 35 degrees, and a lack of breeze makes more than half an hour in the sun close to unbearable.
The mercury drops quickly as late afternoons merge into pleasant evenings but the conditions could be challenging for those travelling to and from daytime matches, which begin from 1pm local time.
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GETTING AROUND
Hosting one of the world’s biggest events in the 37th smallest country on the planet is going to present its challenges, but there’s a big upside for fans and the teams who will avoid the hours of travel usually associated with a Cup campaign.
All eight venues are located within an hour of central Doha meaning, in theory, supporters can attend up to fourmatches a day — a concept that would be fanciful at an Australian World Cup, or virtually anywhere else in the world.
In the week leading up to the tournament Ubers and taxis are readily available and cheap, although the roads can be chaotic and travel times unpredictable.
Part of Qatar’s World Cup project meant the fast-tracking of the city’s $36 billion driverless Metro network, which services seven of the eight stadiums.
The stations and trains are spacious and clean, carrying only a few travellers on some journeys.
That will change in the coming days as an estimated million-plus people arrive and the calm could quickly turn to chaos.
FAN EXPERIENCE
One of the strengths of Australia as a sporting nation is its ability to embrace a big event. From the venues to local streets, Darling Harbour to Federation Square, the place would be absolutely buzzing before, during and after a World Cup on home soil.
Qatar hasn’t exactly caught World Cup fever yet, it seems.
Things are expected to explode into life next week at the Al Biddah Park, the waterfront location that will host the 40,000-capacity fan site. But for now, it resembles a ghost town.
Workers in their hundreds stroll steadily down isolated, closed-off streets as morning breaks, hard hats and packed lunches in hand, as they head off for a shift to apply finishing touches.
It’s a similar story across town where there is a sense of calm before the storm and uncertainy of what is in store for fans in the month ahead.
There will be no shortage of football of course. Alcohol will be a little harder to come by, though it’s easy enough if you’re willing to pay for it inside the venues and city hotels.
The fan accomodation looks like an experience in itself based on some of the stories and footage emerging.
It paints an intriguing, but murky, picture of what could be to come in the next six weeks of the sport’s showpiece event.
And leads back to the $46m question on every Australian football fan’s lips: What if?
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