The Hartlepool woman who lives in the city at the centre of the 2022 World Cup - and here's what she says about life in Qatar

Emily Phillips, 25, lives in Qatar’s capital of Doha where she teaches in a primary school for girls.

She started the job in August last year, and explained: “I wanted to explore the world a little bit more.”

Qatar will welcome the world in two years time when it hosts the 2022 football World Cup and the schedule for the matches was revealed this week.

There will be four games a day in the group stages and the competition will open with Qatar playing in Doha on November 21, 2022.

All the games will be played in eight stadiums which are within 40 miles of each other, and the World Cup Final will be on December 18, 2022.

Emily said: “I feel very excited about living somewhere where the World Cup is coming to very soon.

"There is a lot of construction work going on with building stadiums and improving roads in preparation.”

Qatar also hosted the World Athletics Championships last year, and the Fifa Club World Cup also last year which Liverpool won.

Emily added: “It showed well how they would deal with the World Cup itself being there. They had certain fan zones in which people could buy and drink alcohol as normally alcohol can only be bought and drank in hotels.”

But there is another reason why the World Cup in Qatar will be an immense occasion, said Emily.

"The final of the World Cup will also be played on Qatar National Day on December 18, which is a big celebration anyway, so I can only imagine the craziness when both of those are happening on the same day.

"It’s exciting to be there now seeing all of the build up to it and I’m excited for it to actually start and hopefully see England bring it home!”

Emily also described life in Qatar during the coronavirus and said: “They are very strict with coronavirus compared to what I have seen in the UK, in terms of having to wear masks and gloves when out and about from the very beginning.

"If this is not done then people are faced with a huge fine and the possibility of jail time. Everything was closed originally with only supermarkets staying open and when you went to them you had to have a temperature check before entering .”

Emily came home to Hartlepool because of the coronavirus but keeps in touch with friends in Qatar.

They told her that restrictions have ‘slowly started to ease. Children were not allowed to go to many public places.

"They also have an app in which it shows if you have come into contact with someone with corona or with symptoms of it. If so, you will not be allowed into places.

"You can only access places if you have a green logo on the app to show you have no symptoms.

"When I return I will have to complete a two-week quarantine period in which I have to stay at a quarantine specific hotel and will not be allowed to leave the room for two weeks until that period is over.”

Are you a Hartlepool person living in another part of the world during the coronavirus? We would love to hear from you. Get in touch with us by emailing [email protected]

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