With attention largely focused on the World Cup 2018, especially the Final Draw holding this weekend in Moscow, the 2022 hosts, Qatar has offered some diversions with an eye-popping design for a venue that will not be used until five years from now.

The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy which Qatar has put together for the delivery of the first ever World Cup to hold in a desert region has unveiled the plan for the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, which is the seventh among those proposed for World Cup 2022.

With technology matching the needs of the future, the stadium will be the first ever fully demountable FIFA World Cup stadium and will be capable of seating 40,000 spectators.

Considering what has happened at the previous World Cup host countries where newly constructed stadiums later turned to be white elephant projects, the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium has legacy prospects.

It has combined tournament experience and legacy planning in a revolutionary way.

According to news release from the FIFA website, the venue is capable of being reassembled on another site or turned into multiple smaller venues both for sports and other purposes.

According to its specifications, the stadium to be made of modular building blocks will have removable seats, concession stands, lavatories and other fundamental stadium elements.

“Innovation has always been central to our plans for delivering a historic FIFA World Cup that leaves a legacy for Qatar and the world, and there is no better example of this than the design of Ras Abu Aboud Stadium,” SC Secretary General H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi remarked.

“This venue offers the perfect legacy, capable of being reassembled in a new location in its entirety or built into numerous small sports and cultural venues. All of this in a stadium that delivers the atmosphere fans expect at a World Cup and which we will build in a more sustainable way than ever before. I’m delighted with this design and confident that Ras Abu Aboud will become a blueprint for future mega-event planners to follow.”

Ras Abu Aboud’s modular design also means construction of the venue will require fewer materials, create less waste and reduce the carbon footprint of the building process. Thanks to this sustainable approach to the stadium’s construction, Ras Abu Aboud will receive a four-star Global Sustainability Assessment System certification.

“Qatar is delivering superb results in terms of sustainability, including the proposed design for Ras Abu Aboud Stadium,” said Federico Addiechi, FIFA’s Head of Sustainability & Diversity.

“From day one, there has been a strong emphasis on sustainability from Qatar, including a commitment to ensure that all infrastructure meets strict design, build and operations criteria under the GSAS certification programme.

“GSAS is the most far reaching green building certification. In addition to design and build, it also measures operations. This has actually informed the 2026 FIFA World Cup bidding process. Bidders are now required to adhere to all three steps regarding new developments, while existing buildings should be operated according to agreed sustainability guidelines.”

The 40,000-seat venue is slated for completion in 2020 and will be located in a 450,000m2 waterfront site on Doha’s shore, where the use of shipping containers as one of the main building blocks will echo the nearby port. Situated just southeast of Doha and a mere 1.5 kilometres from the city’s state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport, it will be serviced by excellent transport links, including a dedicated stop on Qatar Rail’s Gold Line (less than a ten-minute ride from Doha’s central Msheireb Station and just 25 minutes from the airport), direct road connections to the centre of Doha and Al Wakrah, and potentially even a water taxi stop.

The stadium precinct, meanwhile, will offer exceptional views over Doha’s landmark Corniche and into the downtown West Bay area, making it an ideal location for a waterfront development after the tournament and ensuring a vibrant local legacy. Its design also reinforces Qatar’s commitment to leaving a physical legacy proportionate to Qatar’s needs after the tournament, while heralding a new era of sustainable tournament infrastructure that can broaden the range of countries able to host such mega-events.

The launch of the design of Ras Abu Aboud Stadium follows the design launch of Al Thumama Stadium in August 2017 and the completion of Khalifa International Stadium for the Emir Cup Final 2017 in May. Ras Abu Aboud Stadium is one of eight proposed host venues for the World Cup.