Qatar temperatures - football anyone?

[Gibli]

With the end of the World Cup football and the controversy concerning Qatar as the choice for 2022 , I thought it would be interesting to look at recent temperatures there, should Qatar remain the choice for 2022.  I used official figures from Doha Airport for the same period as the recent World Cup (12 June to 16th July).

 

Maximum temperatures:  The average max occurring around 3pm local time was 42.6C.  On the coolest day it only reached 37.9C, while the hottest peaked at 47.4C.  On 10 days the maximum exceeded 44C.

 

Minimum temperatures:  The average minimum occurring around 6am local time was 31.9C.  On the coolest night the temperature dropped to mere 28.0C, while the highest minimum was 36.2C.  On only 5 nights did the temperature dip briefly below 30C.

 

The average temperature for the World Cup period was 37.3C.  Exertion in these temperatures is likely to be dangerous for both players and spectators.  Presumably it would be a cycle of air conditioned (a/c) room, to a/c vehicle to a/c training ground and back.  Ironically on the ‘cooler’ days when a breeze off the sea set in, the dew point was much higher.  In my limited experience of the tropics it was high dew points (over about 22C) which really sap the energy and they were in the high 20's for a while.   

 

On the other hand, if the same venue was used in mid-winter as has been suggested, it looks much more feasible.  Using Doha figures for December 2013 / January 2014, the average maximum was 22.1C (variation 18 to 28C) while the average minimum was 15.9C (variation 13 to 22C in round figures) and for playing football a rather pleasant overall mean temperature of 19.0C.  That said, the decision will likely all boil down to how much money changes hands!

 

I have details on an Excel spread sheet - unfortunately the site says I'm 'not permitted to upload this kind of file'.