The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) has announced the completion of 200 million work hours since preparations began on the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ projects. To mark this milestone, the SC has organised a ceremony to recognise the efforts of the FIFA World Cup™ workers who made this achievement possible.

With the 200 million work hour mark, the SC has completed around 75% of its preparations for the tournament. The years leading up to this moment have included a number of significant accomplishments and milestones. These include the renovation and re-opening of Khalifa International Stadium, the launch of the iconic Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah City and the construction of three training clusters to bring the total number of sites to 40. The SC has also announced its readiness to launch Al Rayyan Stadium and Al Bayt Stadium, located in Al Khor City, in the second half of 2019.

Speaking about this achievement, Eng. Yasir Al-Jamal, Chairman of the Operations Office and Vice Chairman of the Technical Delivery Office at the SC, said: "We've always reiterated our commitment to ensuring the World Cup leaves a sustainable human, economic and social legacy. This legacy, we hope, will serve as a model that's admired and adopted by future host countries."

He continued: "The success we're celebrating today is a key moment of this journey. Achieving our vision and successfully hosting the Arab world's first FIFA World Cup tournament is not a standalone effort. We continuously collaborate with the relevant local and international stakeholders to help along the way.

"This is no doubt one of the biggest and most important events in the world. Such an event requires us to invest the time and effort in the establishment of the facilities that is ultimately there to leave a legacy beyond the tournament and benefit community members in Qatar, including nationals and residents. These new facilities will become new attractions and destinations for visitors. One example is the 880,000 m² park that surrounds Al Bayt Stadium."

Meanwhile, Eng. Tamim El-Abed, Project Manager of Lusail Stadium, added: "We've come a long way on the road to 2022. We look forward to achieving more accomplishments in the coming years when we launch the rest of the World Cup stadiums. As part of our progress, we have completed the concrete works, steel, precast and interior works at Lusail Stadium and we also organised trial matches at the training sites due to host international teams in 2022 to test their readiness. We're very proud of the efforts of everyone involved, and we'll continue our hard work until the first World Cup whistle blows."

Abdullah Al-Bishri, Manager of Health and Safety of the TDO at the SC, said: "Five years ago, this achievement seemed far-fetched. Today, we're very proud with what we've accomplished. Khalifa International Stadium has been renovated and re-opened. Al Janoub Stadium was launched. Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor is now in its final stages. Works have been completed at Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, and we've lifted the roofs and commenced façade works at Al Thumama Stadium and work is progressing rapidly at the remaining stadiums. This event celebrates this progression, and recognises the workers' tremendous effort, dedication and commitment to the health and safety standards imposed by the SC."

To guarantee compliance, the SC organises a series of lectures and workshops for all FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ workers to educate them about health and safety standards across all its projects. The SC also works closely with a number of local and international partners to organise site visits and inspections, hosting more than 2,000 site visits so far.