Ever since Qatar won the right to host the tournament in 2010, football’s Fifa 2022 World Cup has become the focal point for the country’s projects market.

The $70bn of infrastructure Doha says it plans to spend ahead of the event has understandably captured the imagination of construction companies from around The World. The intensity of the interest has been enhanced by severe downturns in other markets, most notably the eurozone.

Many major construction companies now have an operation in Qatar, and a lucky few have already managed to win major contracts buildings roads, metros, museums and real estate. With more work in the pipeline, others are hoping to follow suit.

The fear is that those hopes could be dashed if Qatar loses the World Cup. While that is an unlikely scenario at the moment, it is becoming increasingly likely that Fifa will try to move the tournament to winter, opening the door for countries that are against a change in timing to propose a rebid.

All is not lost if the tournament is moved. If it is played in the winter, then the infrastructure programme will lose a few months of delivery time, which is not a major problem as most schemes were aiming for target completion dates before 2020, nearly two full years ahead of the World Cup.

If the tournament is rebid and moved to another country, Qatar’s projects market is robust enough to withstand the shock. With the exception of the stadiums, the infrastructure projects may support the World Cup, but are not being developed for it.

Instead they are being built for Qatar, and it is Qatar that will offer the long-term opportunities beyond 2022, not the World Cup, and that is what construction companies should focus on instead of football.