Fifa World Cup Notebook - Day 3
A delegate from Qatar smokes outside at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Centre, in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of the same name, during the COP27 climate conference, on November 10, 2022. (
What you need to know:
- I must confess that I have indeed not seen anybody light up at all the venues I have visited.
- I am certainly not complaining about this state of affairs knowing only too well the harmful substances in tobacco smoke that can also endanger the health of the nonsmoker.
Kenyans have truly capitalistic mentality, home or away...
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If you want to know that Kenyans are rabidly capitalists then you need to come right here in Qatar.
Because of the very high prices of hotel rooms and rent apartments charged as Qatari businessmen cash in on the influx of visitors, private houses have become alternative forms of accommodation.
Two Kenyans here for the showpiece have bitterly complained of being charged “very high” room rates by fellow Kenyans living and working in Qatar.
“Imagine I am paying $100 (about Sh12,225) every day and I do not even eat in that house. I cannot believe a fellow Kenyan is doing this to me.
He has refused to even reduce by a dollar,” one disgruntled Kenyan World Cup visitor grumbled.
Al Bayt Stadium has huge capacity, and hotel on the way
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The Al Bayt Stadium, where the home team Qatar were crushed 2-0 on Sunday, is located some 45 kilometres north of Doha.
Its exact capacity is 63,000. It is the second biggest venue and was built by a Lebanese construction company. Its design was inspired by the tents of the Bedouin people of Qatar.
The tents are locally known as “Bayt al Sha-art”, hence the name of the stadium.
What I found interesting about this stadium is that the upper concourse will be converted into a five star hotel and shopping centre within its walls. Hotel rooms will boost of balcony views of the stadium.
I wonder what the future hotel tenants thought of the horde of football fans invading their space.
Want a smoke? Sorry, then the World Cup is not your place
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All venues for the World Cup, including stadiums, media centres and fan zones are tobacco-free.
This is in line with the Fifa Event Policy on Tobacco and Qatar’s Law No. 10 of 2016 on the Control of Tobacco and its Derivatives.
I must confess that I have indeed not seen anybody light up at all the venues I have visited.
I am certainly not complaining about this state of affairs knowing only too well the harmful substances in tobacco smoke that can also endanger the health of the nonsmoker.
