SZ brands make strong presence at World Cup

Writer: Zhang Yu  |  Editor: Zhang Chanwen  |  From: Shenzhen Daily  |  Updated: 2022-11-21

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which opened yesterday, not only offers thrilling soccer matches, but also adopts high-quality tech products to improve audience experience.

Facilities from venue construction, stadium LED screens, LED pole displays to grandstand seats have showcased Shenzhen’s tech prowess and its role as an advanced global manufacturing hub in China, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.

A view of Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar, which will host matches during the 2022 FIFA World Cup that began yesterday. Xinhua

Stadium 974, also known as Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, pays tribute to Qatar’s long-standing global trade and seafaring traditions. The number 974 is the country’s international dialing code and it is also the number of shipping containers used in construction. The 974 containers were all manufactured by Shenzhen-headquartered China International Marine Containers (Group) Co. Ltd. (CIMC).

The stadium will be the first “green stadium” that can be completely disassembled in the history of the World Cup. Its disassembled containers and movable seats will be donated to countries in need after the World Cup.

According to CIMC, the containers provided to Qatar are specially customized. A series of complex technologies on materials, internal functions and overall connections were considered in the production process.

Shenzhen Absen Optoelectronic Co. Ltd. provided the eight World Cup venues, which will host the tournament’s 64 matches, with LED stadium screens with a total area of nearly 2,000 square meters, improving the stadiums’ display quality.

The Lusail Stadium, which serves as the flagship venue and will host the finals, covers 190,000 square meters and can accommodate over 80,000 spectators. The venue has two large LED score screens measuring over 70 square meters in area with a maximum distance of beyond 20 meters from the ground. Shenzhen-based Unilumin Group manufactured the high-definition screens.

Another Shenzhen firm, Avant Sports Industrial Co. Ltd., is the World Cup’s stand seat supplier and has provided tens of thousands of movable and retractable seats for the eight venues.

The grandstand seating system can also be moved and disassembled as a whole, saving a lot of time and labor costs.

When night falls, 320 sets of smart streetlamps appear on the 5-kilometer road around the Qatar World Cup’s main venue, where 130 LED pole screens are decorated to light up the venues. The LED pole displays are from Tecnon Smart Display Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd.

The 2022 Qatar World Cup kicked off yesterday with an opening ceremony and the inaugural match between Qatar and Ecuador. It will wrap up less than a month later with the finals set to be played Dec. 18.

It is the first time the global soccer tournament will be played in the Middle East and the first time the tournament will be held in November and December. It will be the last time the tournament will have 32 teams as the tournament will expand to 48 in 2026. Qatar is the first country to make its debut at the FIFA World Cup by virtue of being the host.