Qatar 2022 Passes 500,000 Online Fans

Highest Facebook support of any bid

DOHA, Qatar, November 29, 2010 - Qatar 2022, the organization bidding to bring the FIFA World Cup to the
Middle East for the first time, today announced that it has over 500,000 fans
on its official Facebook page, the highest by far of any nation bidding for
the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

The countries where fans have clicked "like" for Qatar's World Cup bid
include Egypt [90,000], Jordan [45,000], Saudi Arabia [38,000], Qatar
[31,000], Lebanon [23,000], Palestine [18,000] and Israel [10,000]. Strong
support is also coming from as far afield as Nigeria [22,000], Ghana
[17,000], the USA [14,000], Kenya [14,000] and South Africa [6,000].

Commenting on Qatar 2022's online support, Qatar 2022 Bid CEO Hassan Al
Thawadi said: "There is a groundswell of public support building for our bid
across the Middle East and further afield, and these numbers back that up.
Our online support is particularly impressive given lower internet
penetration in the Middle East, especially when compared to North America and
Europe. Most of it is coming from young people aged 13-24 and, interestingly,
around a quarter is from girls and women.

"Our online support represents just the tip of the iceberg for a region
that is passionate about football. With the population of the Middle East set
to double to over 700 million in the next decade, over half of whom will be
under 30, there are huge opportunities to grow the game across the Middle
East and this is something we will be communicating to FIFA when we present
to its Executive Committee next week."

    Notes to Editors:
    The top languages used to access the Qatar 2022 Facebook page are:
    English [US] - 265,000; Arabic - 113,000; English [UK] - 60,000; and
    French - 20,000.

    44% of Qatar's online support comes from ages 18-24; 25% from ages 13-17;
    and 20% from ages 25-34.

    There are approximately 15 million Facebook users in the Middle East and
    North Africa, compared to 125 million in the US and 23 million in the UK
    for example.

www.qatar2022bid.com

For further Information or to set up interviews, please contact: Kelly Keane, TMG Strategies, +1-410-321-0137 (work), +1-410-271-7450 (cell), kelly.keane at tmgstrategies.com; Christian Fianco, Media Manager, Qatar 2022 BID Committee, +974-55669340, cfianco at qatar2022bid.com