Italy is already one of the protagonists of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, at least from a technological point of view. Qatar’s stadiums, in fact, “speak Italian” thanks to Zucchetti that, after the Khalifa International Stadium, won the tender for the security & access control management of the futuristic Al Wakrah Stadium.
The Al Wakrah Stadium, currently known as Al Janoub Stadium, is the first of the eight sports facilities in which the next FIFA World Cup will take place, the first one to be played in winter and the last one to include 32 teams instead 48 (staring from 2026, the World Cup will be extended to other countries too).
The stadium is therefore an important symbol not just for football lovers and it chose to entrust one of the most important aspects of the event – security – precisely to Zucchetti.
The access control system is made of a total of 72 doors and gates with 72 tripod turnstiles, 10 motorized turnstiles for disabled people, 2 VIP entrances and 8 PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) for VVIP entrances. Everything was installed in just two months between March and April 2019.
Zucchetti’s terminals comprise an elegant and 100% Made in Italy design, innovation, technology, robustness and convenience, therefore guaranteeing a perfect operational balance amid security, comfort and freedom of movement. The terminals are equipped with high brightness 7-inches graphic displays on both sides to give different information to both spectators and operators.
Moreover, they are able to read all types of tickets: from traditional paper ones, to smartphones, including print@home and RFID/NFC ones. This guarantees ease of use, quick reading and maximum visibility, thanks to the display’s inclination. In addition, as already experienced in other big events managed by Zucchetti, the access control system is perfectly integrated with third-parties such as Ticketing, BMS (Building Management System), FAS (Fire Alarm System) and Parking.
We are in fact talking about a product that perfectly combines both the traditional requirements of places designed to host a large number of individuals – that in this case reaches a maximum capacity of roughly 40,000 people – and the aesthetic needs of a project with a well thought and sophisticated design.
The Al Janoub Stadium, inaugurated on 16th May for the Amir Cup 2019’s finale, has been designed by Zaha Hadid, the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize – one of the most important international awards for architecture – and it has been inspired by Dhow’s sails, typical boats of the Persian Gulf.
“An elegant and fine project that represents an important result for Zucchetti Group since, so far, only two of the eight Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums have been built and in both cases, the implementation of security systems has been assigned to us – states Marco Marchetti, manager of Zucchetti’s Security & Automation BU – proving that our solutions represent the excellence both in Italy and abroad.”
“I had the honour to assist to the magnificient inauguration of the Al Janoub stadium, a non-stop show to which also the Qatar’s Emire and FIFA’s President attended” declares Gilberto Polledri, Sport&Events area of Zucchetti’s Security & Automation BU. “On this occasion, the access control system has been used for the first time and, as expected, everything worked perfectly. We are very proud to be part of this masterpiece of modern architecture.”
