Flashscore visited the city of Doha to learn about Qatar's top football league, the QSL, and the country's plans for further development in the sports sector.
During this visit, we had the chance to step inside Lusail Arena, a venue that already hosted the Handball World Cup in 2015.
Ever since then, it has been the home for the Ministry of Sport and Youth. But the government officials started moving out a week ago to make room for those who prepare the next big event here - the FIBA World Cup.
Doha will host the basketball tournament in four arenas. Many important games, including the final, will take place in the Lusail Arena, with a capacity of more than 15,000 people. But one place stands out as the most unique.
The organising committee is planning to use the Al Janoub Stadium as one of the four venues. It is a modern football stadium with a retractable roof that hosted seven matches during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
"Now it will be the first football stadium used for the Basketball World Cup. The roof will be retracted, the VIP stand will serve as the main stand for basketball, and we will build a court and new stands next to it. Basically, we will build a basketball arena inside a football stadium," says Anastasios Magoulas, a Greek executive who has been at the helm of Qatar's basketball development for the past decade. He serves as the Competition Director for the 2027 World Cup.
After the 2022 FIFA World Cup, expectations for Qatari organisers are high. But so are their ambitions. "I believe we had the best football World Cup and will also host the best basketball World Cup," Rouda Al Ghanim, the competition's Director of Communications and a member of the Qatar Olympic Committee, says proudly.
"The size of Doha plays a huge factor in this. All four arenas are very close to each other, there are metro stations next to each of them.
"So like with the football matches three years ago, you will have a chance to see multiple games in one day," she explains.
"You can see Giannis in the afternoon and Team USA in the evening," Magoulas adds with a smile. That is a big change from the previous edition of the tournament, which was co-hosted by Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The World Cup will start at the end of August as usual, which is the peak of high summer temperatures and humidity in Qatar. But the organisers are not worried about the conditions for fans who will travel to the arenas. "The metro, the malls, the hotels, many public places, including multiple streets, it's all air-conditioned," Al Ghanim says.
Despite the energy expenditure of all the AC, the belief in Qatar is that they can host a sustainable World Cup. "We are taking many steps towards that. For example, we just offered to FIBA to get rid of physical printed out tickets and have all tickets digitally," Magoulas says.
The organisers are assured the FIBA Basketball World Cup will be another event that can help solidify Qatar's place on the sports map and help the country grow.
"Sports work as a catalyst for Doha's development," Al Ghanim sums it up and reminds us of the viral moment after the FIFA World Cup final. Then, the Emir presented Lionel Messi with the bisht, a traditional piece of clothing worn on special occasions. The Argentinian legend then lifted the trophy with this cloak wrapped around his shoulders.
In two years, we will find out if it will be Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic or someone else entirely will be crowned with it, or maybe if the bisht will rest on the shoulders of LeBron James for his international 'last dance'.