The president of the international football federation FIFA, Gianni Infantino, is enthusiastic about the progress of the World Cup in Qatar so far. He appreciated not only the sporting level, but also the average attendance of over 51,000 people per match.
“I saw all the matches and I have to say clearly that we have had the best group stage in history. It was played in beautiful stadiums and the matches were of a very, very high quality.” quoted Infanta’s DPA agency.
According to the head of FIFA, over two billion fans watched the championship on television. Attendance at matches in Qatar, where the round of 16 ended on Tuesday, exceeded 51,000 spectators per match on average.
“It’s just unbelievable. The atmosphere at the matches is fantastic. Two and a half million people are cheering in the streets of Doha and hundreds of thousands more are cheering in the stadiums.” declared the fifty-two-year-old Infantino.
Qatar won the 2010 World Cup and the wealthy emirate faced criticism almost from the start. The reason is the suspicion of a manipulated election and, above all, repeated violations of human rights.
