Fans who are planning on going to the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 may need to bring their camping gear with them.
According to Reuters, falling oil prices have forced a re-examination of some of the budgets in Qatar and delays to a number of projects which had been put in place for the tournament.
The Gulf state was originally due to provide 55,000 hotel rooms, per their pitch in 2010, but they revised that number down to 46,000 in January. Both figures fall short of FIFA's requirement of 60,000.
Doha News report that there are currently just over 20,000 hotel rooms across the country, and a number of alternatives are being investigated to find a way to house the number of fans who will be attending the tournament.
Speaking last week at the MEED Qatar Projects conference, David Goodger of Oxford Economics' tourism division said that desert tents were being looked into, as was the possibility of housing people on cruise ships.
Local fans relax before an International Friendly match at the Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar. Image: Owen Humphreys / PA Archive/Press Association Images
Goodger stated that offering desert camping was a real possibility, given that the World Cup in Qatar would be compact, and added that fans zones could be constructed to enhance the experience for those in attendance.
There is also the suggestion of using services such as Airbnb to house tourists, but the tent option is being described as a "creative" solution to the problem, offering fans a taste of the culture in Qatar, where camping in the desert is not unusual.
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