The AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ has set several new historical records, reaffirming Qatar's status as a regional and global sports hub.
A total of 86,492 spectators made their way to the iconic Lusail Stadium for the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ final. With that, a record-breaking attendance of 1,509,496 fans was registered for the tournament, surpassing the previous attendance record of 1.04 million set during the 2004 edition hosted by China. This was one of many records set by the tournament, one that Qatar successfully hosted for a third time.
H.E. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, Chairman of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023TM Local Organising Committee (LOC), views the tournament's success as a testament to Qatar's ambitions and capabilities, solidifying its reputation as a global sports hub, which plays a key role in the country’s development strategy:
“Once again, Qatar has proven its ability to host the world’s best sporting events. Over a span of one month, Qatar welcomed Asia’s best players as well as hundreds of thousands of fans from across the continent. What we witnessed was a festival like atmosphere that celebrated different cultures while treating fans to wonderful displays on the pitch.”
“I thank everyone who worked tirelessly to deliver this success and look forward to the next tournament here in Qatar, which will add another milestone to our record of achievements,” added H.E. Sheikh Hamad.
The AFC Asian Cup achieved unprecedented widespread media coverage, evidenced by statistics and data from traditional, digital and various social media channels.
Given that media management plays a crucial role in major sporting events, the Local and Regional Media Department prioritised creating the optimal environment for journalists and ensuring top-tier technical services were available to them. These efforts empowered journalists to effectively carry out their responsibilities, seamlessly covering the tournament.
The 2023 edition of the AFC Asian CupTM attracted the widest television coverage in the history of the tournament, with matches broadcasted by 60 television networks from over 160 countries worldwide. Additionally, more than 3,000 accredited media from 55 countries played a key role in sharing stories from the pitch with the rest of the world.
The tournament's media success showcases the country's prominent role regionally and globally. Qatar’s organising committee played a key part in this achievement, drawing on their extensive experience to seamlessly host major sporting events.
The tournament also broke digital engagement records across all LOC social media channels. More than 1.2 billion impressions were made, with over the 9.5 million engagements. This means a total reach of over 196 million, including more than 328 million video views. The tournament’s official website registered more than 8.8 million clicks during the tournament.
More than 1 million tickets were sold for the tournament, with Qatar, India, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Philippines, and Indonesia leading the way. Since the official launch of ticketing sales on 10 October, 2024, the official ticketing website has been visited a total of 74 million times by 1.45 million users. There were 240,000 users in queue for tickets to the final match alone.
Qatar’s compact nature meant that fans and players alike were able to stay in one place of accommodation throughout the tournament. A modern road and public transportation system seamlessly transported fans. At the heart of the tournament’s mobility plan was the Doha Metro. More than 6.22 million passengers made use of metro services throughout the tournament. A fleet of 110 trains completed a total of 83,358 train trips transporting fans back and fan from stadiums.
Additionally, a total of 3,354 buses were used to shuttle 212,407 fans from stations to the stadiums as well as for the park and ride options. The fleet of buses also featured 300 electric buses in line with the LOC’s sustainability strategy.
The AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ offered spectators a memorable experience in stadiums and throughout their visit. Fans from participating countries flocked to Qatar in droves. From the beginning of January until the end of the tournament, 905,200 international arrivals were recorded, with 44% arriving through land, 44% through air, and 12% by sea.
The LOC’s operational plan focused on match day experiences, while work with different stakeholders made sure that fans enjoyed attractions throughout Qatar. Fans were treated to a wide variety of cultural activations across tournament venues, featuring more than 1,600 performing artists from across the continent.
In stadiums, several accessibility features were put in place to ensure a barrier-free user experience for disabled fans throughout the tournament. All nine stadiums were equipped with accessible entrances and seating for wheelchair users and fans with limited mobility. In addition, sensory rooms for fans with sensory access requirements, such as children with autism, and audio descriptive commentary services in Arabic for blind and partially sighted fans were also available.
The LOC also recruited a total of 6,000 volunteers to provide support across 20 functional areas. The tournament also saw the participation of more than 700 children taking part as player escorts, flag bearers and ball crew.
Over 29 days, 51 matches were played across nine stadiums. Seven of these stadiums previously hosted matches during Qatar 2022, making this the first AFC Asian Cup™ to be played on FIFA World Cup™ venues.
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Source and cover image: Press Release
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