England fans face hour-long trek through desert to watch Qatar World Cup games

England World Cup fans on a fact-finding mission to Qatar faced a long trek through desert-like conditions to get to venues.

Supporters on a trip to the Gulf state had to walk a ‘45 minutes to 1hr’ from the £26bn Metro system to some of the newly-built stadiums.

In November/December, when the World Cup takes place, temperatures hit 22/25°C (72/77 °F).

Organisers say the Metro takes fans directly to five out of eight venues. But they will listen to feedback from fans’ groups at test events.

“It was an hour’s walk to get to some of the venues, 45 minutes for others,” one England fan told the Mirror.

“That is just too far, especially in the sort of temperatures you are talking about – even for the evening kick offs.

“It was a struggle – you are walking through a desert.”

Another fan added: “The stadiums are very good, you can’t complain about anything there.

“The air conditioning keeps the temperatures down. But there are teething issues with the transport which will need to be addressed.”

It is believed 10,000 England fans will make the trip to Qatar at various stages of the World Cup. Many have tickets for the 2022 final in case Gareth Southgate’s side can go one better than the semi-final defeat to Croatia at Russia 2018.

Supporters groups have warned it is likely to be the most expensive in history due to ticket, travel and accommodation costs.

“This is another World Cup supposedly for the fans where the cost of seeing your team all the way to the final is at least £1,200. On top of the costs of flights, human rights concerns and expensive accommodation, a huge barrier for most ordinary fans.”

Ashley Brown, the Football Supporters Association Fans’ Embassy team

The cost of attending the 2022 World Cup final is up, with ticket prices 46 per cent higher than in Russia.

Qatar 2022 chiefs say the new stadiums are no more than 40 miles apart, and they will look at bus transport from the Metro stations furthest away from the venues.

The tournament takes place from November 21 to December 18. Work on Lusail Stadium, the 80,000-capacity venue for the final, was completed in November, with all eight now ready for the tournament.

Football’s world governing body Fifa said: “With temperatures in Qatar in Nov/Dec ranging on average between 15 and 24ºC, players and fans will enjoy optimal conditions at the FIFA World Cup 2022.

“This has been confirmed by teams, spectators and media who attended the 2019 and 2020 editions of the FIFA Club World Cup played in Qatar, as well as last year’s FIFA Arab Cup.”

Original article published 10.03.2022 on the Daily Mirror website.

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