Doha Diary: Hot but some are not bothered as World Cup nears

DOHA: “No, no, this is not hot. Summer is hot,” insisted a helpful attendant at one of Qatar’s new metro stations.

Enjoying a blast of cold air after a 10-minute trek from the nearby media centre, this sweating Singaporean found it a little hard to agree.

It may be winter in Qatar, but it is hot.

Temperatures currently hover at around 30 degrees Celsius in the day, with the desert sun particularly baking between 10am and 2pm.

It is a different kind of heat from Singapore’s. 

The dry heat here is a slow burn. It doesn’t reduce you to a sweaty mess quickly, but it will eventually leave stains on your T-shirt.

And not everyone is having fun in the sun.

According to British media, Wales have rescheduled mid-afternoon training sessions from 1.30pm to 4pm due to the heat. 

To avoid soaring summer temperatures which can hit 50 degrees Celsius, football governing body FIFA made the decision in 2015 for the Gulf nation to host the tournament in the winter months.

It has created problems for the footballing calendar, but that is a different matter for a different day.

Seven of the eight stadiums, with the exception of Stadium 974 which is fully demountable and features natural ventilation, will make use of cooling technology, FIFA has said.

Making use of solar-powered energy, the air outside is cooled and then distributed through grills in the stands as well as large pitch-side nozzles. 

According to Dr Saud Abdulaziz Abdul Ghani, the engineer behind these systems, the form of each stadium acts as a barrier, which contains a cold bubble inside. The air circulation technique cools the air, filters it and pushes it out towards the players and fans.

Each stadium is cooled to a comfortable temperature of around 20 degrees, he added.

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