Qatar's bid to host the 2022 World Cup is provoking a heated debate in South Africa.
``Ultimately, everybody asks about the weather - 'What is your solution towards the weather?''' bid chief executive Hassan Al Thawadi told The Associated Press on Friday.
Football officials are curious because a Qatari World Cup would be played from June 3-July 3, when temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).
Daytime temperatures this week hit 43 C (109 F), with the heat easing to 35 C (95 F) at 9:30 p.m. local time when late matches - including the final - would kick off.
Al Thawadi has heard the concerns this month, especially from European and South American officials who want to know what kind of World Cup their national team might face in 2022.
``Previously it was curiosity or it was more of an astonishment,'' Al Thawadi said. ``Now I believe people are genuinely interested.''
Qatar proposes to combat searing heat by a system of solar-powered, air-cooled stadiums with roofs designed to shelter fans and players.
A scaled-down prototype is being built around a five-a-side field in Doha to showcase the technology, and will be unveiled to FIFA in September during an official inspection visit.
``Every component of that prototype is in existence,'' Al Thawadi said, ``but it's never been put in the sequence that it's being put together to create the result that we're looking for.''
Qatar proposes playing World Cup matches in 12 stadiums equipped with the technology. Development plans for five are under way.
The bid claims venues would be regulated at 27 C (80.6 F) - below the 30-degree mark at which FIFA's medical committee advises that players become fatigued after 51 minutes of play.
Organizers also will need to cool each training camp provided for 32 competing teams, and at several so-called Fan Zones, the public viewing sites where fans without match tickets gather to watch the action on giant screens.
Al Thawadi said a design to cool those venues has not yet been devised.
``Technology evolves. You've got 12 years from now,'' he said. ``The cooling technology will be adapted in such a way to allow for the place to be cooled in an open-air place without the stands being there.''
Teams would practice on grass fields in school grounds and residential compounds, which would later be gifted to the community as part of a World Cup legacy.
Qatar's intended gift to the world is the cooling technology. It also would donate parts of some dismantled stadiums to developing nations because a country of about 1.4 million people has little need of so many 40,000-capacity stadiums.
Al Thawadi is sensitive to Qatar's reputation as the money-no-object World Cup bid among the nine candidates in the combined 2018-2022 contests.
``Throwing money willy-nilly has never been our intention,'' he said. ``We are blessed with a great economy. It shouldn't be seen as a negative point.''
Instead, Al Thawadi believes finances are a big reason why FIFA's ruling executive should award the 2022 World Cup to Asia. The region also has Australia, and 2002 co-hosts Japan and South Korea going against the United States in a Dec. 2 vote.
``Asia has a new, vibrant economy and it would be a big mistake to miss that out,'' the Qatar bid leader said. ``Has football and FIFA developed that commercial aspect to its significant potential? No.''
