High-spending World Cup 2022 hosts Qatar are splurging almost $500 million every week on major infrastructure projects for football's biggest tournament, the country's finance minister said on Tuesday. That eye-watering level of spending could continue until 2021, Ali Shareef Al-Emadi said. "We are spending close to $500 million per week on capital projects," he told journalists. "And this will carry on for the next three to four years to achieve our goal and objective of really getting the country ready for 2022."
More than $200 billion (187bn euros) will be spent in total by the gas-rich Emirate in preparation for 2022. Emadi said this figure covered not only stadiums but huge and costly projects such as roads, a new airport and hospitals.