12 years after it was granted the right to host the 2022 World Cup in football, the hour of truth has come for Qatar, which raises the curtain, on Sunday, about the first World Cup in the Middle East and an Arab country, accompanied by allegations of bribery and uninterrupted controversy about human rights in the small, gas-rich Gulf state.
The tournament, which is held once every four years, opens with the host Qatar match, which is participating for the first time, against Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium in the northern city of Al Khor at 7:00 pm local time (16:00 GMT).
Various issues faced by Qataris during the 12-year trip, ranging from allegations of vote-buying, the emirate’s hot climate and its conservative society, to its record in the field of freedoms and human rights, especially dealing with migrant workers from South Asia and the LGBT community.
In the aftermath of the decision of the International Federation (FIFA), which came for Qatar over the United States in 2010, US President Barack Obama said at the time, “It is a bad decision.”
But the organizers of the World Cup, which cost $ 200 billion, according to various estimates, have consistently confirmed that they have carried out extensive reforms and will receive “all” visitors without any discrimination.
Officials of the Gulf state, headed by the Emir of the country, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, denounced an “unprecedented campaign” of “slanders” and “double standards.” Last month, he noted that Qatar has witnessed a “legislative renaissance, according to which basic laws regulating the various aspects of life and transactions in the country have been completed.”
Alcohol ban
Friday witnessed a new turn, two days before the opening ceremony, with FIFA announcing the ban on alcohol in the vicinity of the stadiums and the removal of beer selling centers and restricting them only to fan areas, which sparked a sweeping wave of criticism against FIFA and the conservative Muslim country where the sale of alcohol is strictly controlled.
Football Supporters England responded to the decision with a statement, saying: “Should they be able to change their minds in this regard at any moment, without providing any explanation, fans would have an understandable concern whether they were to fulfill their other undertakings relating to accommodation, transport or cultural matters.”
Some teams, through their players, sponsors, or participating federations, try to send objectionable messages, which FIFA rejects, such as Denmark’s request to wear human rights shirts during training, before the Scandinavian national team confirms its compliance in order to avoid fines and penalties. Objections were met by French President Emmanuel Macron, Thursday, with his request to “not politicize sports.”
After two weeks of urging the teams to focus on football, FIFA President Gianni Infantino deviated from the script and berated the Europeans for their handling of the Qatari file.
Al-Sabt said from the media center in Doha, “Today I feel that I am Qatari, today I feel that I am Arab, I feel that I am African, that I am gay, I feel that I am a person with a disability, today I feel that I am a migrant worker.”
He described the criticism of the World Cup as “moral lessons” that smack of “hypocrisy”: “For us Europeans, what we did over the past 3,000 years, we have to apologize for for the next 3,000 years before we give lessons to others. These are moral lessons.” Show hypocrisy.”
As for banning beer, he considered that football fans in the World Cup could live 3 hours without drinking beer. “I personally believe that if you do not drink beer for 3 hours, you can live. It is the same in France, Spain and Scotland.”
traditional tent
Qatar, which has a population of about 3 million, including 90% foreigners, expects more than a million fans to come to the country during the World Cup over the course of the 29-day tournament, but many questions have been raised in recent months about its ability to accommodate this number. Many fans will stay in hotels, apartments, camps in the desert, or on ships, for varying prices.
In a stadium inspired by the traditional house of poetry or tent inhabited by the Bedouin people in Qatar, and which can accommodate sixty thousand spectators, the competitions will officially open on Sunday.
It is one of eight stadiums built specifically for the tournament, with the exception of the symbolic renovation of Khalifa Stadium, next to the Aspire Academy complex, in whose corners most of the prominent faces of the current Qatari national team grew up.
Six stadiums with a capacity of about forty thousand spectators are Khalifa, 974 (formerly Ras Bu Abboud), Ahmed bin Ali (Al-Rayyan), Al-Janoub (formerly Al-Wakra), Al-Thumama and Education City, in exchange for sixty thousand spectators for Al-Bayt Stadium and more than eighty thousand for Lusail Stadium, which hosts the final match. On December 18, Qatar’s National Day, it is expected to be watched by a billion spectators around the world.
Unlike the previous editions of the World Cup, which began in 1930 in Uruguay, the competition moved from the summer to the onset of winter, due to the blazing temperatures in the Gulf in summer, which aroused the wrath of the major European championships, which forced them to freeze their competitions for at least a month.
Brazil and Argentina are candidates
The 32 participating teams were divided into eight groups, before raising the number to 48 in the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
With the exception of Italy, the world champion four times, heavy weights like Brazil, the record holder (5 titles) led by Neymar, Argentina (2), led by Lionel Messi, the best player in the world seven times, are competing to try to dethrone France, the 2018 champion, led by striker Kylian Mbappe. It is noteworthy that the three players carry the colors of Paris Saint-Germain, which was bought by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011.
The Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, the best player in the world five times, was the last star to arrive on Friday, in an attempt by the thirty-seven-year-old to give his country its first title.
The “Don”, who has 117 international goals (a record), is playing his fifth World Cup, similar to his rival Messi (35 years), who is panting behind a single title he lacks, to rise to the ranks of great giants such as Brazilian Pele and his late compatriot Diego Maradona.
Germany, the defending champion four times, most recently in 2014, is seeking to compensate for its disappointing last participation, and England and Belgium are building on their reaching the semi-finals in Russia, noting that the European teams have won the titles of the last four versions since 2006 (Italy, Spain, Germany and France).
Four Arab teams are participating, similar to the last edition, which is Qatar, the host and the 2019 Asian champion, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, who are seeking to reach the final price round, similar to 1986 and 1994, respectively, and Tunisia, which is looking to skip the group stage for the first time.
Attention is focused on the actions of the players of the Iranian national team, which fell into a political group that includes the United States, which defeated it in the 1998 World Cup, at a time when the country has been witnessing, nearly two months ago, protests that followed the death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini (22 years), three days after she was arrested by the morality police for not Its adherence to the strict dress codes of the Islamic Republic.