A big Brother-style security system will be used to follow fans at Qatar’s World Cup stadiums.
The state-of-the-art surveillance can monitor 120,000 faces on one giant screen, thanks to 15,000 cameras in “every corner” of the eight venues.
It will be the first time one integrated system has been used to cover an entire tournament.
England and Wales fans will be at the heart of the biggest intelligence-led security operation ever held at a sporting event, with camera operators able to identify any fan at any game.
The Mirror visited the Aspire Command Centre, just outside the capital Doha, to see first-hand how the system works.
In a scene straight out of Nasa’s mission control in Houston, Texas, Niyas Abdulrahiman, executive director of the tournament, showed how every part of a venue can be seen, from a broom cupboard to the upper tiers of seating. He said: “In Qatar, we have more video surveillance than almost any other place on Earth.
“If security sees someone jumping around in the crowd at a game, we can view it. We zoom in and hold that image very tightly.
“Every fan can be identified, no matter how many matches on one day. With 15,000 cameras, every nook and corner of every stadium is covered – you can see where a door is left open which is supposed to be locked.
“Every digital system has its own alarm and they are all over the place. If a child is reported missing, we can activate the cameras and alert stadium staff immediately.”
The control hub also monitors the elaborate air conditioning system, which will keep players and fans cool as the temperature soars outside the stadiums.
“You can see a change in the direction of the wind, a change in humidity or in temperature,” Niyas said.
“We are the first to do something of this magnitude and scale. It is already being used as
a model for the future.”
Engineer Williams Morales, operations manager of the new £500million Al Janoub stadium, believes that the 2,000 cameras packed into the venue could also transform the game for the football managers of the future.
“This will be one of the most secure events ever held,” he said. “But the quality of images from the field of play are quite amazing.
“A manager will be able to see at half-time if a player has not been running as usual. You can create heat maps which show movement around the ball.
“There is software which would enable all the fans to do it on their phones or devices, too.”
Qatar is confident its sporting journey will not end with the World Cup, as the nation is planning a bid to host the 2036 Olympics.
Hamad Ahmed Al-Mohannadi, who is in charge of the command centre that controls the World Cup stadia, told the Mirror: “This is just the beginning.”
