SPECIAL REPORT Proving ground
Published: MEA
With news of the World Cup decision still fresh in the mind, there was a great deal of interest in how Doha would handle AFC Asian Cup. Equipping the stadia for this event was AVTech as James Ling reports
Qatar is no stranger to hosting major sporting events. The international tennis tour is a regular visitor to its shores and the 2006 Asian Games is another example of the country’s standing as a sports destination. However, since the decision to award the nation the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup there has been extra attention focused on any tournament that it stages. It should come as no surprise therefore that the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, which took place in Doha in January, gave the world’s football-loving population the opportunity to see just what Qatar could do as a host nation.
With this level of attention from all over the world everything had to run perfectly, particularly the audio and broadcast systems at the venues. Tasked with the job of providing and installing these systems at each of the five stadia was local systems integrator Audio Visual Technology (AVTech).
Just as the country is experienced in delivering international sporting events, when it comes to equipping the stadia, so is AVTech. The company first worked on a project such as this for the 2006 Asian Games where owner Sharif Hashisho was manager and creative director of the ceremonies and cultural events, and since then it has regularly delivered broadcast and A/V solutions for sports competitions and venues in Qatar. According to general manager Hadi Arzouni, it was this experience and expertise that helped to secure the contract for the company.
With the added pressure of the world looking on with interest, AVTech was tasked with supplying and installing a high-quality system that would meet global broadcast standards and provide technical support for the duration of the tournament. While this is a standard requirement for all international tournaments, the timeframe available for the job was far from ideal. AVTech was contracted for the job on November 21, 2010 with the system needing to be in place for the first match, which was on January 7, 2011 to enable the telecast – a period of just 48 days. AVTech, along with its partner Gearhouse Broadcast Ltd Qatar, carried out turnkey broadcast projects for four stadiums for the permanent installation of broadcast infrastructure cables and TV room equipment. ‘It was a very tough job involving nearly 150 people working day and night,’ recalls Mr Arzouni. ‘It was a risky challenge that we took on successfully’.
‘We did a three month job in one month,’ says Harish Kunju, AVTech’s project manager. ‘We worked day and night nonstop. The organising committee supported us in all the procedures required to bring in materials from abroad.’
One of the challenges for this came with the cabling for the stadia. While multiple cable suppliers were used for the project, the main two manufacturers that AVTech opted to go with were Belden and Draka. ‘We sourced cables and connectors from all over the world, and from one particular place we had to charter a flight just for the cables because there was no other way to bring them here on time,’ says Mr Arzouni. ‘We shipped 18,000 tons of cables by air freight.’
The cable backbone ran not only around the seating area of the stadia, but also through the studios, commentator and press rooms so that broadcasters could set up and broadcast from wherever they wanted around the whole facility.
AVTech undertook the complete electrical civil works as the main contractor, changing the camera wall box in all the stadia as well as installing the new cables and infrastructure to reach the main TV room. For the broadcast infrastructure, each venue’s broadcast control room was fitted with Harris routing, synchroniser and converters. Also installed were monitoring devices including waveform monitors from Tektronics, as well as products from Bell Audio and Sony. As per international broadcasting standards, the wall boxes at various locations in the stadia were designed with flexibility in mind, with varying numbers of triax, video, fibre, and audio connectors included. AVTech also provided the electrical requirements, such as power boxes at specific locations for broadcasters, TV racks and the power panel for OB vans.
A similar project saw G.L Events award the systems integrator the contract for the installation of all audio, video and broadcast lighting for press conferences conducted in the media centre with mixed zone areas at 12 locations.
When it came to selecting equipment for this project, AVTech decided that quality and reliability would be its main criteria. For the media centre in each of the five stadia, it installed Meyer Sound UPM-1P self powered speakers, as well as Sennheiser EW 100 G3 wireless microphones and MZH 3062 gooseneck podium microphones with the ME34 capsule and MZTX31 stand. The audio mixing came from an Allen & Heath Zed 1402 rack mounted console. The conference rooms were equipped with a Taiden HSE 4100 MA digital conference system.
On the visual side, AVTech opted to go with Christie LW 400 projectors. Lighting for the press rooms and the media centre was provided using DMX dimmer controlled Arri 1200 Fresnel Daylights and Kinflo Parabeam 400 fixtures.
Away from the broadcast project, AVTech was also awarded the contract for the sound operation during the tournament matches, as well as the supply of the audio system to the training fields in all stadia. ‘For all five stadia we installed 12 Meyer Sound Milo cabinets, three CQ-1s down-field and four SB2s,’ explains Mr Arzouni. ‘For control we used Meyer Sound’s Galileo 616 loudspeaker management system. The desk was a Midas Venice 160, for microphones we used Sennheiser’s EW 100 G3 wireless and we also fitted an Instant Replay editing tool by 360 systems.’
The company also supplied mobile systems for the tournament. ‘In each mobile system we used a Christie LX400 projector with Da-Lite square format 96-inch x 96-inch Rugged Tripod Screen,’ says Mr Arzouni. ‘For audio we used two RCF Art 312 350W two-way speakers, an RCF PR4902 preamplifier, and an MS1033 CD/MP3 player and FM tuner. For the microphones we selected two Sennheiser EW 122 lapels and two EW 145 handled mics.’
The final part of the project covered the technical support for the tournament. AVTech provided a team to cover each of the stadia. ‘We never had any problems during the games,’ recalls Mr Arzouni. ‘We had a support team during the event because, at the end of the day, we are representing Qatar and if the people at home all over Asia couldn’t watch the game, it would have been a pity.’
The company owner, Mr Hashisho, is clearly pleased with the end result. He describes the installation as ‘one of a kind in the region’, and believes the project has ‘added a great credibility value’ for his company, particularly in the light of similar projects that are coming up.
The success of the AFC Asian Cup has once again proven that Qatar has the ability to host large-scale international tournaments, and hopefully settled some nerves in the international football community. Of course, the 2022 World Cup will be an entirely different level from what the country has staged in the past, but the experience and knowledge of companies such as AVTech will go a long way towards ensuring that that competition is just as successful.