The Shortcomings of Project Management Skills at the Qatar 2022 World Cup

Executive Summary

Every four years, the FIFA World Cup is awarded to a host country. The largest soccer event in the world will be hosted by Qatar in 2022. In this paper, I will analyze the strategy that the project sponsors and project managers in charge of the Qatar 2022 World Cup have used so far. The paper will focus on the project management aspects of budget, risk, and schedule. After extensive research, I have noticed that each of these subject matters in project management are not being handled appropriately during the project lifecycle of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The project portfolio consists of issues in the three previously mentioned areas due to poor management in knowledge areas such as hospitality, construction, and finance. This paper will detail the current state of project management as well as how those areas can be improved. The FIFA World Cup is the largest sporting event for soccer worldwide, and poor project management can be detrimental to not only the tournament itself, but the host country as well.

INTRODUCTION

As the first Middle Eastern Country to host a FIFA World Cup, Qatar made history when it was awarded to be the host city in December of 2010. In 2013, “The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee announced it has appointed KEO [International Consultants] as the project manager and AECOM as the design consultant for its Al Wakrah Stadium” (McGinley, 2013). It was a bit of a shock that Qatar was chosen over competitors Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. Qatar did not have the same infrastructure, availability of stadiums, and safety precautions that the other countries offered. This risk – one of the key subject matters of project management that will be discussed in this paper – was a major hurdle for Qatar 2022 to overcome.

The constraints of budget and lack of resources were also key project management aspects that hindered the performance of the Qatar 2022 project group. As you will see later in this paper, Qatar is struggling to stay within budget and has cut corners in order to afford certain services. The difficulties Qatar 2022 has had with their budget and finances have negatively affected their performance as a project team, and it has also caused bad public relations (PR) for the project management group.

Finally, the schedule of the project has been consistently delayed due to construction issues with stadiums, as well as the lack of available hospitality spaces. This lack of preparation has put the project management team and project sponsors in a tough situation. This is because certain deadlines need to be met in order for Qatar to remain the host of the World Cup. Throughout this paper, I will explain how these risks, budgetary concerns, and delays in schedule have all influenced the project lifecycle of Qatar 2022.

Risk

Political conflict is a major risk that the project team of Qatar 2022 must deal with. There is an imminent risk surrounding Qatar 2022 due to tensions within the Middle East. In June of 2017, Cornerstone Global – a management consultant organization located in the UK – reported that, “Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) all cut ties with [Qatar], alleging it was destabilizing the Middle East by supporting terrorism” (Staff, 2017). They continued to imply that many countries in the Western Hemisphere are uncertain of wether the games will remain in Qatar because of this political unrest. In response to these concerns, the project management team stated that, “In the context of the current political situation we question the motives of an organization – which makes no secret of its affiliation to the countries blockading Qatar – of publishing a report based entirely on media reports and anonymous sources” (Staff, 2017). The most recent instance of how the Qatar Supreme Committee had to handle risk management came in January of 2020. Multiple Dutch and American players admitted they “do not feel safe” playing in Qatar given the tensions between Middle Eastern countries and the US and Netherlands (Goff, 2020). An anonymous American source went on record saying that, “The only thing that could derail FIFA’s plans is regional turmoil. And as recent events proved, that’s not completely out of the question” (Goff 2020). Representatives from Qatar 2022’s project management team, KEO, released a follow up statement ensuring that the games will take place as planned in Qatar. Political unrest within the Middle East has escalated in recent years which has increased the risk of the games staying in the country. Due to this, stakeholder funding has slowed down. This leads us to the next issue the project management team has faced; lack of resources and budgetary concerns.

Lack of Resources and Budgetary Concerns

When forming the project team, KEO did not accurately estimate the cost needed for employees performing manual labor. These employees would be building the eight additional stadiums for the World Cup. A construction budget of 6 billion dollars was set forth by the General Secretary of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Hassan Al Thawadi (Diario, 2019). While this budget was intended to build multiple stadiums, the costs of construction workers and all other raw materials was not accurately estimated. The project management team handled this issue very poorly. Instead of trying to cut some areas of the budget in order to accommodate their employees, project managers decided not to pay the day laborers. Amnesty International investigated these claims and found out that “around 100 migrant workers at one of the tournament’s ‘crown jewel’ stadiums had not been paid for up to seven months – despite the authorities knowing about the problem last summer” (Ingle, 2020). One of the most valuable resources for a project are human resources. Therefore, the project management team should have accounted for a larger group of employees knowing how extensive one of the projects in the project portfolio (building eight stadiums) would be.

It seems that the 6-billion-dollar construction budget that was originally agreed upon by project management team KEO, along with the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, was grossly underestimated. Once workers began to get paid, the total budget drastically increased. Delays in stadium construction (which will be discussed in the next section) also contributed to the increase in budget. In fact, Qatar has now reached “$200 billion of infrastructure works to prepare for the 2022 soccer World Cup” (Fattah, 2019). The cost estimation was poorly forecasted prior to construction. Best practice in cost estimation calls for the project managers to give a range of cost that would be anywhere from +/-10% to +/-25%. This vast disparity came because of poor project management skills by the project manager, project team, and budgetary planners.

Schedule

Unlike World Cups of the past that have taken place in June, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be played from November 21^st through December 18^th due to the incredible heat that Qatar experiences in the summer months. Therefore, the schedule is quite different than all other World Cups in FIFA’s history. Upon the announcement that Qatar won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup, construction needed to start immediately because infrastructure was so low. Construction was needed for stadiums as well as hotels to house players and fans. One of the major stadiums that is to be created is the Al Bayt stadium in Al Khor. In 2019, Yasser Al Mulla, senior manager of Qatar’s Supreme Committee’s Landscape and Sport Turf Management, announced that, “All the stadiums will be completed two years before the tournament starts” (Aljazeera, 2019).

While construction was initially supposed to be completed in 2019, “construction [growth] shrank 1.2% from a year earlier in the first three months of 2019, contracting for the first time since the data series began, according to Qatar’s Planning and Statistics Authority” (Fattah, 2019). As the World Cup quickly approaches, Qatar is behind on one of the most important pillars of project management. Projects are finite and have a definitive start and end date. These delays, along with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, have significantly affected Qatar’s scheduling. In fact, on June 16^th, 2020, Qatar dedicated one of their completed stadiums to COVID-19 front line workers. While this is great for publicity, an important note is that “The 40,000 capacity Education City Stadium, a ‘Diamond in the Desert’, is the third venue to be ready with five more under construction” (Reuters, 2020). The project management team still believes that the remaining five stadiums will be completed by the end of 2020, but delays in getting materials, as well as social distancing guidelines that have prevented the usual number of construction workers allowed at the site, have added other hurdles that may delay the completion of the stadiums even longer.

Key Findings

Throughout my research, I have seen the project team inadequately handle the three major aspects of project management I addressed above. First, the risk management that the Supreme Committee has neglected to address is causing great tension in the progress of the project. Increased risk is unappealing to investors and stakeholders, even if the project being worked on is the biggest international soccer sporting event in the world. The uncontrollable circumstances of political unrest and accusations of bribery have been surprises that the project management team have not handled well. Nearly all of the articles I have read on the effect of political unrest on the World Cup have shown the project management team and the Supreme Committee to be combative in their rebukes. Instead, they should be portraying a reassuring tone to both investors and the public alike. The risks that are facing the Qatar 2022 World Cup project can have long lasting influences on the country even after the completion of the games.

Managing the budget is another major area that project managers have done poorly in. While searching multiple databases and reports, what I concluded was that the Supreme Committee and their project team (KEO) did a very poor job of cost estimation. They did not factor in delays of the project as well as other costs (employee salaries) that were imperative to the completion of all of their stadiums. Due to their mishandling of the budget, Qatar 2022 has faced criticism from the international football world as well as diplomats across the globe. The project team should have analyzed costs and followed detailed documents in the initiation phase of the project lifecycle. Documents such as the project charter would lay out budgetary restrictions as well as deliverables that need to be met at certain time periods.

Finally, the mishandling of the schedule is the last poorly executed aspect of project management in regards to Qatar 2022. Being behind on the construction of stadiums in very concerning given that the country is lacking available arenas to host their matches. One can assume that, since multiple divisions of the Supreme Committee had differing answers, the work breakdown sheet (WBS) must not have been detailed enough to delegate responsibilities. Moreover, KEO and the Supreme Committee agreed on a deadline to have all stadium completed two years prior to the World Cup. This means that, in order to achieve that deadline, five stadiums must be completed by the middle of November of this year. The surprise of COVID-19 has a huge impact on the progress of the project, but outside risks need to be addressed when creating your schedule at the beginning of the project.

Conclusion

Upon completion of this assessment, I have noticed that poor project management in one key area has the potential to disrupt the way other aspects are handled. For example, the budget for the entire Qatar 2022 World Cup increased exponentially after it was discovered hundreds of employees were not being paid. Due to this, delays in the project occurred which has caused the deadline to be tested. Project management is not just focused on one aspect of an entire project. If one area suffers, this could negatively impact all other areas of the project as well. As soon as it was announced that FIFA chose Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, pundits all agreed that this was a huge risk. Qatar 2022’s project management team has confirmed these skeptics’ beliefs. Through neglecting risk management, mishandling their budget and resources, as well as pushing the limits of their schedule, KEO and the Supreme Committee of Qatar 2022 have shown unsatisfactory project management skills. As a soccer lover myself, and a loyal viewer of the World Cup, I truly hope the project management team can rebound from their current shortcomings in order to put on a fantastic and historic World Cup.

Biography:

 

Stephen Campana originates from Parsippany, NJ with a passion for creativity and analytical thinking. This is his first published piece and he hopes all readers will gain knowledge on Project Management as they review his findings. Learn more about the author here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-campana-848510ab/

 

 

References:

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Fattah, Z. (2019, July 04). World Cup 2022: Qatar’s $200 Billion Dash Hits Construction Cliff. Retrieved June 18, 2020, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-04/qatar-s-200-billion-dash-to-world-cup-hits-a-construction-cliff

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