00:00I love it. I love it because for me it looks like a football festival, you know, where everybody's here, happy to be here.
00:11Doha has been buzzing with football for two months, from the Under-17 World Cup in November to this month's Arab Cup and Intercontinental Cup.
00:20Fans have packed stadiums and fan zones.
00:23And right here at Lucille Stadium, where the Arab Cup final was played, it all came down to a thrilling climax.
00:31And I'm here to show you the full picture.
00:35I truly believe that after the World Cup, Qatar proved a point that, you know, having the tournament in Qatar for many different reasons,
00:45whether it's close proximity of the stadiums together, whether it's the vibe the country gives,
00:50whether there's a lot of things to do during that time, it's only us bringing other tournaments, taking advantage of the legacy of the World Cup.
00:57The FIFA Under-17 World Cup in November brought 48 teams from around the world to Doha with matches across the Aspire Zone and a final at Khalifa International Stadium, showcasing the next generation of talent.
01:12We have 48 teams of the world here.
01:16That's 25% of the world.
01:19And I am convinced it will change football all over the world.
01:24Because we push the countries to make a big effort to develop their youth.
01:29Because they have a better chance to go to the World Cup.
01:32So they will make more effort, you know.
01:35And we have created this tournament as well to give every generation a chance.
01:40Because we know that international experience at 17 years of age is very important.
01:46We want the countries to make more effort to develop their youth.
01:49And we know that this kind of competition will help.
01:54FIFA's Technical Study Group observed every game, analyzing trends and collecting data to support youth development worldwide.
02:03These many games here with so many teams, this allowed us from the Football Performance Insight team, together with the Technical Study Group, to observe every game.
02:14And with these data, what we bring together, with these outcomes, we can go to the global football.
02:21We can go arriving in every country to see what's happened there, what we can do there.
02:27And this is fantastic like this to go then to the teams, to transfer this to the teams with our department.
02:34And it's really amazing to have this chance to do this.
02:37Immediately after the Under-17 World Cup, Doha hosted the Arab Cup and Intercontinental Cup.
02:43Keeping fans entertained all December, the Arab Cup featured record prize money, with the champions taking home $7.1 million.
02:54We have seen that the stakeholders usually take advantage of a tournament happening in Doha and then have all these side activities and activities happening.
03:01So all these touristic attractions become the vibe of the tournament that's happening.
03:06So we have different concerts, we have different events that are happening, some are sports, some are forums, exhibitions, all happening at the same time.
03:15So yes, you'll be coming to watch a tournament, but you'll be doing a lot of different cultural, sports, activations, and activities during that time period as well.
03:23More than 1.2 million fans attended the Arab Cup, with Lucille Stadium hosting a thrilling final.
03:31FIFA President Gianni Infantino praised Qatar for uniting the Arab world through football.
03:36Everyone's going to be happy for them.
03:38Yes, of course.
03:39On the sidelines of the Intercontinental Cup, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced bigger prize money for the 2026 World Cup,
03:47an under-15 youth festival and a fund to support children affected by war.
03:53We had a very important council meeting here today in Doha, where we discussed many points.
03:58First decision taken, the prize money for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
04:05A massive increase, 50% more for all the member associations, minimum of 9 million for the participation,
04:14plus 1.5 million preparation money, so 10.5 million for every member association participating in the World Cup.
04:21And the winner gets 50 million US dollars, an increase of 50% compared to the World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
04:30So everyone will be excited to win the World Cup, not for the prize money, for the trophy, but the prize money is a nice add-on.
04:38Across the three tournaments, Portugal won the Under-17 World Cup, PSG lifted the Intercontinental Cup,
04:46and Morocco claimed the Arab Cup with a thrilling 3-2 extra-time win over Jordan,
04:53capping off an intense couple of months of football in Qatar.
04:56Thank you very much.
05:00Thank you so much.
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