Qatar is considering building a $30m (€26.8m) underwater studio which will be used during the television coverage of the 2022 World Cup, one of the project designers has said.
Arabian Business reported that Qatari World Cup organisers are excited by the proposal to have a television station broadcasting half-time analysis from an underwater aquarium.
A final decision on the project is due in two months and project planners believe it could be underwritten by broadcasting companies who would be keen to use the unique facilities.
Qatar is reportedly spending more than $200bn (€178bn) in preparation to host the football tournament, which equates to around $100,000 per capita (€89,250). In contrast, South Africa spent $2.7bn (€2.4bn) hosting the 2010 tournament, working out to $54 per capita (€48).
The Qatari authorities are working with US-based developers Reef Worlds, who specialise in underwater tourism developments.
CEO Patric Douglas told Arabian Business that the submerged studio was a real possibility and that the Qatari authorities "like the notion of doing the World Cup underwater with sharks swimming around".
The plan for the studio is to situate it in a cavern carved out of rock which would then be filled with water, turning it into a giant aquarium.
Qatar's World Cup plans have been beset by controversy. The BBC are this week demanding an explanation from the Qatari government after the broadcaster's journalists were arrested for allegedly trespassing on private property while conducting interviews with migrants workers involved in building stadia for the tournament.
A Guardian investigation revealed that Nepalese migrant workers employed in stadia construction were dying at the rate of one per day in the summer of 2013. The labourers were unable to leave their jobs under the state-sponsored kafala system, where migrant workers are not allowed to change jobs or leave Qatar without their sponsor company's permission.
The Qatari organising committee have since developed a set of workers' welfare standards which are monitored by reports every six months.
The Gulf region is experiencing something of an underwater development boom. A Polish architect recently announced plans for an underwater tennis centre near Dubai.
A European real estate agency based in Dubai is also developing a collection of three-storey properties which are a cross between a boat and a villa, and have one floor submerged. The properties will reportedly sell for about $1.4m (€1.2m).
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Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.
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