Infantino says World Cup will be health 'benchmark' for global sporting events

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Thursday this year's World Cup finals in Qatar will become a "benchmark" for holding future global sporting events during a health crisis. Qatari organisers, who will have thousands of extra medical staff on duty for the 32 nation event starting November 21, said they are "cautiously optimistic" it will be the first mass gathering of sports fans for a global sports event since the coronavirus pandemic erupted two years ago.

Spectators were largely kept out of last year's Tokyo Olympics and the ongoing Winter Olympics in China. FIFA announced this week that requests have been made for 17 million tickets for the first World Cup in the Arab region and sought to reassure fans about safety measures during an online health conference organised by the Qatar authorities.

Medical officials told the conference there would be 90 medical points and 10 ambulances at each game. Abdul Wahab al Musleh, one of the top medical organisers for the event, said there would be 3,000 medical staff just for the tournament on top of the Gulf state's hospitals and clinics.

Medical checkpoints and paramedics will also be deployed at the main fan zone which will be able to hold up to 80,000 people. Qatar has predicted that 1.2 million people will visit during the tournament.

Football has a duty "to make sure this is not only the best World Cup ever but also the healthiest World Cup," Infantino said in a recorded statement for the event. He added that the health and security standards will be "a benchmark for future sporting events of this scale." The same message was given by World Health Organisation director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who highlighted the "unique challenges" faced by organisers because