Doha, Qatar – The lads’s 2022 FIFA World Cup is quick approaching. Kickoff within the opening match takes place on November 20, nearly 12 years because the day Qatar was awarded internet hosting rights for the event.
The occasion will function 32 groups and appeal to greater than 1.2 million guests to Qatar, which can grow to be the primary nation within the Center East to host soccer’s greatest event.
Here’s a checklist of another firsts at this yr’s World Cup:
Offside expertise
In July, soccer’s world governing physique, FIFA, introduced using a semi-automated offside system on the World Cup to assist make quick and correct offside calls.
In keeping with the governing physique’s guidelines, a participant is in an offside place if “any a part of the top, physique or ft is within the opponents’ half (excluding the midway line) and any a part of the top, physique or ft is nearer to the opponents’ objective line than each the ball and the second-last opponent”.
The expertise makes use of a sensor within the ball and a limb-tracking digital camera system to observe the actions of gamers. To assist followers and viewers at dwelling perceive the referee’s determination, the info shall be used to undertaking 3D photos on stadium screens.
Substitutions
Groups shall be allowed 5 substitutions in every sport versus three from the earlier World Cup in Russia in 2018.
The regulation was launched by soccer’s rule-setting physique, the Worldwide Soccer Affiliation Board, in 2020 after what it mentioned was “a world evaluation of the continued affect of COVID-19 on soccer in addition to representations from a number of key stakeholders from throughout the soccer neighborhood”.
If a World Cup sport goes into further time, one extra substitution shall be allowed.
A number of soccer leagues, together with Spain’s La Liga and Main League Soccer in the USA, have applied the change over the previous two years.
November kickoff
In contrast to earlier tournaments, Qatar 2022 shall be going down through the months of November and December.
Beforehand, the World Cup had all the time been held through the Northern Hemisphere’s summer time, typically in June and July. The change was made to keep away from excessive temperatures in Qatar, which might attain as much as 50C (122F) throughout that interval.
Through the event, temperatures are predicted to vary from 14C to 31C (57F to 88F).
Expanded squad lists
In November, collaborating nations will identify squads containing a most of 26 gamers, three greater than what was allowed on the World Cup in Russia.
In keeping with FIFA, the change was made because of the “distinctive timing” of the event being held in November and disruptions attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The World Cup preliminary squad checklist was additionally expanded from a most 35 gamers to 55.
Feminine referees
For the primary time on the males’s World Cup, three girls have been included among the many 36 referees chosen for Qatar 2022.
France’s Stephanie Frappart, Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita and Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga have all beforehand officiated at a males’s event, together with the UEFA Tremendous Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations.
“It’s a powerful signal from FIFA and the authorities to have girls referees in that nation,” Frappart mentioned. “I’m not a feminist spokesperson, but when this will make issues occur …”
Becoming a member of them shall be three different girls who will serve among the many 69 assistant referees.
Most ‘compact’ World Cup
With an space of little greater than 11,500sq km (4,440sq miles) and a inhabitants of round 2.9 million, Qatar would be the smallest nation ever to host FIFA’s flagship event.
All eight stadiums are situated inside a 50km (31-mile) radius of the capital, Doha. Through the group levels, most days will function as much as 4 video games.
Whereas Qatar and FIFA say the “compact” nature of the event will permit folks to look at a number of matches a day, critics argue that an inflow of greater than 1.2 million folks may result in main congestion on the streets, making it tougher for folks to maneuver across the nation.
“Having 4 matches in a day is a problem in a metropolis like Doha,” Abdulaziz Ali Al-Mawlawi of the Supreme Committee for Supply and Legacy, organiser of the event, mentioned final month. “… In fact, we predict to have congestion on the streets.”
Faculties in Qatar will stay closed through the World Cup whereas workplace working hours have been diminished.