There are many pictures and statements that were captured by cameras during the World Cup in Qatar. Some of them documented what was happening within the borders of the green rectangle and between the stands, while others monitored the atmosphere outside the stadiums and in sports analysis programs.
And while some of these scenes appear to be just fleeting snapshots that are repeated in every football tournament, others have raised controversial issues and highlighted unknown aspects in the lives of some players.
In the following report, we highlight the most prominent scenes and statements from the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which stopped Arab social media pioneers over the past two days:
A goal for Ronaldo.. But technology has another opinion!
After Portugal’s first goal against Uruguay in Group H, questions arose as to whether Cristiano Ronaldo was the scorer, or fellow player Bruno Fernandez.
Portugal opened the scoring with a cross from Bruno Fernandez. As shown in the video below, Ronaldo jumped towards the ball after Fernandez kicked it, it dodged the opponent’s goalkeeper and entered the goal.
Ronaldo then launched into a hysterical wave of joy, which suggested to the spectators that he was the owner of the goal.
But after scoring the goal in Ronaldo’s name, the “mouse” technique revealed that the ball did not touch his head, so FIFA quickly corrected the news and scored the goal in Fernandez’s name.
Angry tweeters
But the FIFA announcement did not convince many fans of the Don, so some of them resorted to social networking sites to express their anger.
Some of them mentioned the successes of the Portuguese star and his record numbers, while others poured out their anger on FIFA, accusing him of “prejudice” to their favorite star.
It is noteworthy that the goal, if it was calculated for Ronaldo, would have added a lot to his record full of numbers. He could have become the historic top scorer for Portugal in the World Cup with 9 goals, equaling the goals scored by Portuguese legend Eusebio.
On the other side, the cynics stood up to Ronaldo’s reaction while celebrating the controversial goal. The event brought back to mind the story of the late football legend Diego Maradona, and his goal known as “The Hand of God” against the England national team in the quarter-finals of the World Cup Mexico in 1986.
While others expressed their solidarity with Bruno Fernandes in the face of the anger of Ronaldo’s fans, who still question the validity of FIFA’s decision.
The “journey” ball settles the controversy
And it seems that the claims to score the goal in Ronaldo’s name are no longer confined to only Don’s fans and fans, but also included many players.
In an attempt to resolve the controversy, Adidas, the manufacturer of the “journey” ball, which is the official name for the 2022 World Cup balls, issued a statement confirming that “Ronaldo did not touch the ball that entered the goal.”
The company indicated that “the electronic and technical sensors connected to the ball of the Portugal-Uruguay match categorically confirm that there was no contact with the ball with Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Inside the “journey” ball there is a sensor capable of transmitting 500 signals per second to the cameras on the field and to the video technology room (VAR), allowing to collect a lot of data about the players and the moment they contact the ball.
Similar to football fans, veteran players were divided between a critic and a supporter of FIFA’s decision, regarding Bruno Fernandez’s goal being awarded.
While the Italian football star Del Piero insisted that “the ball did not touch Ronaldo’s head,” the former Egyptian player, Mohamed Abu Trika, questioned that, saying that he “believes Ronaldo, not FIFA.”
Abu Trika raises controversy again
These were not the only statements made by Abu Trika during his appearance in the studio of the Qatari “BN Sport” channel.
During his analysis of the Spain-Germany match, the Egyptian star took the opportunity to respond to the criticism leveled by European capitals for the Qatar World Cup.
Abu Trika criticized what he described as “Western and German arrogance in particular” towards Qatar, after the Gulf state banned the raising of homosexual flags and slogans inside and outside the World Cup stadiums.
Abu Trika also praised what he described as “the role played by Qatar in giving an Arab and Islamic character to the current version of the World Cup.”
Abu Trika considered that “Qatar has succeeded in raising Arab awareness and imposing its laws,” and called on Western countries to “follow and respect those laws.”
Abu Trika addressed the Germans, saying: “O Germans, you have no authority to teach us how to run our laws or our country.”
And through social networking sites, the popularity enjoyed by the former Al-Ahly star was reflected in the opinions of many Arab singers, who sang “the power of his words.”
But Abu Trika’s remarks were also met with some criticism.
Activists warned of “the danger of his speech in areas that are not within his competence,” and accused him of “using his overwhelming popularity to pass Qatar’s ideological agendas,” as they described it.
Some believe that the Egyptian player, and before him Qatar, “practiced the same arrogant rhetoric that they blame on the West.”
“Offensive” statements about the Gulf dress
On the other hand, comments by Sandro Wagner, a former player in the German national football team, sparked angry reactions, after many considered them “insulting” to the Gulf countries.
While commenting on the match between the German and Spanish national teams, the former Bayern Munich striker said that he “thought that one side of the stadium would be full of German fans, while it seemed to be full of fans wearing Qatari bathrobes.”
Wagner was referring to the traditional white dress worn by men in Qatar and most of the Gulf countries.
Arab and foreign singers described the German player’s comments as “racist”, and demanded “sanctions be imposed on the channel that allowed the passage of such statements,” as they put it.
In a statement posted on the channel’s Twitter account, Wagner apologized for what he had done and said, “His comments were uncalculated and inappropriate.”
Wagner added, “It would have been better not to say it. If any of you feel offended, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”
And it seems that Wagner was referring to the Qatari fans who attended the match, to respond to the position of the German players last Wednesday, when they closed their mouths in protest against the decision of the International Federation of Football Associations to prevent the wearing of badges supporting homosexuality.
Qatari fans responded to the German protest by carrying pictures of former Germany national team player Mesut Ozil covering their mouths with their hands.
“Clash of Civilizations”
These scenes and positions sparked intense controversy among the tweeters, who analyzed them according to their orientations and positions on European and Qatari statements.
On the one hand, a group of tweeters says that European critics “show clear bias and duplicity” when it comes to Qatar.
While others, on the other hand, defend “the right of European countries to criticize Qatar,” and say that “raising the human rights file in major sporting events is necessary in our world today.”
And between them stands a third group of tweeters, who see these positions and the exchange of accusations as “a natural result of the clash of values and civilizations.”