On The Eve Of The World Cup, Temperatures In Qatar Reached 117 Degrees

On the day before this year's World Cup in Brazil the high temperature in Doha, Qatar was 117 degrees, 40 degrees hotter than the high temperature in Rio de Janeiro according to weather.com.

It is this weather which led FIFA president Sepp Blatter to recently call the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar "a mistake." During the bidding process, Qatar promised their stadiums would be equipped with technology that would make the stadiums feel like it is about 80 degrees. However, that technology does not yet exist and has never been tested in large stadiums and it is unclear if it will be effective.

Temperatures this high are a legitimate health risk to both spectators and players. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, working in temperatures above 103 degree is considered to have a "high" risk level. The risk level becomes "very high to extreme" above 115 degrees.

A high temperature of 117 degrees is extreme, but the average temperature at this time of year is 105 degrees and can reach as high as 122 degrees in Doha, the city where the main stadium will be located. This chart from Reuters shows how that compares to the main cities for the other countries that bid for the 2022 World Cup.