FIFA World Cup: Qatar using AI to monitor fans; 22,000 cameras installed

With over 1.5 million people set to attend the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, the Arab nation is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to closely monitor fans across all the eight stadiums that will host the matches from November 20 to December 18.

Qatar is the first Middle East country to host the football world, and the small nation is leaving no stone unturned to make it a grand success.

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According to a report on Al Jazeera, Qatar has set up a technology hub in the capital Doha to monitor fans at the stadiums, and the transport system during the tournament.

More than 100 technicians will be working around the clock at the Aspire Command and Control Center, closely monitoring images flashing across their screens via 200,000 integrated units, from 22,000 security cameras spread across all eight World Cup stadiums, the report stated.

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The Aspire Command and Control Center was launched in November last year.

The technicians at the centre can operate entry gates, ensure there is running water and keep the air conditioners humming smoothly. Also, facial recognition technology will enable the crew to zoom in on each of the 80,000 seats at Lusail Stadium, which is set to host 10 matches, including the final, it added.

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Further, the report said that experts from cybersecurity to anti-terrorism to transport will be stationed at the centre, along with Qatari and FIFA officials. Security cameras in all areas of the stadiums will make sure that mission control can check how each venue is operating before, during and after the event.

مركز أسباير للقيادة والتحكم بالمنشآت الرياضية
يهدف المركز إلى رفع مستوى كفاءة البيئة التشغيلية لمنشآت بطولة FIFA كأس العالم قطر 2022

Aspire Command and Control Center
Rising the efficiency of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums’ operational environment@roadto2022 pic.twitter.com/ys1uOV9QDv

— Aspire Zone (@aspirezone) November 29, 2021

“With one click you can shift from one stadium to (another) stadium, because we have everything integrated through our centralised platform, in terms of facility management, security, health and safety, and ICT (information and communications technology) operations,” the centre’s director Hamad Ahmed al-Mohannadi was quoted as saying in the report.

The centre will have eyes on all nearby metro, trains, and buses, Niyas Abdulrahiman, the event’s chief technology officer, said, as per an AFP report.

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Experts from Qatar University have also developed drones that can provide estimates of the number of people on the streets, it said.

“What you see here is a new standard, a new trend in venue operations, this is our contribution from Qatar to the world of sport. What you see here is the future of stadium operations,” said Abdulrahiman.