Qatar 2022: Surviving the Odds to Host the World

 Duro Ikhazuagbe 

In barely 25 days from today, world’s global attention will shift from the war between Russia and Ukraine and be focused on the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. For the next one month starting from November 20, 2022, actions in the Beautiful Game will seize the attention of football aficionados as the gladiators try to outmaneuver each other for the ultimate prize to be handed out on December 18 at the magnificent Lusail Stadium. Who will that champion be? Will it be defending champions France who stormed to the title incidentally at Russia 2018 or Germany, winner of the penultimate edition in Brazil eight years ago? 

Football, being a dynamic sport with difficulty to predict what will happen the next minute, may prove bookmakers wrong in this edition holding in winter for the first time in an Arab nation of Qatar. It is a different World Cup from the usual one held every four years in the summer. This particular edition, taking place in November/December due to wether considerations may throw up a new champion, likely to shock the world. Until that final game game in Lusail City, lets keep our fingers crossed.

Looking back to how the Qataris got the hosting right and the thorny path they tread to reach this stage, is quite interesting. They didn’t get it on a platter of gold. They worked for it. Beating the likes of the United States of America, Australia, Japan and South Korea was no mean feat. And of course, we can very well recall that they survived the first round of voting where the likes of Australia, Japan and South Korea dropped out. And so facing ‘almighty’ USA with all their might and global influence in the second ballot was going to be a tough nut for the Qataris to crack. Triumphing by 14 votes to 8 explained the behind-the-scene work that the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy must have put into getting the hosting right. 

Expectedly, Europeans and others from America who felt Qatar didn’t deserve to get the hosting started impugning corruption and other malfeasance in the process by FIFA. They spew allegations of corruption and bribery. Several years of investigations failed to prove anything against the Qataris who played the game by FIFA rule. 

Instead of giving up and allow this Gulf state to concentrate in delivering facilities to host the world, international gang up ensued, with even some fellow Arab nations (out of envy), colluding with some western countries to level allegations of human right abuses against Qatar. In particular, they cited unfavourable working conditions of the immigrant workers mostly from south east Asia that are working in most of the facilities to host the World Cup.  The International Labour Organisation (ILO) had to step in and in the last four years have designed labour reforms that the Qatari government has fully implemented. Yet, it appears those hell bent on rubbishing the host country are not satisfied. Was it a sin for this small nation of barely 12,000 square Kilometres land mass  to have bidded and won the right to host like all the others that have done so in the past? Of the 211 members of FIFA, only countries with the financial muscle to put in place facilities to the globally accepted standards are voted as hosts. 

Qatar has surpassed this standard with the seven magnificent stadiums they have put up to host. Way back to 2017, Qatar’s first, Al Janoub  stadium, was certified ready to host while work was ongoing in the rest six. From the 47,500 capacity Al Bayt Stadium that will host the opening ceremony on November 20 to the final in Lusail’s 80,000 capacity facility, Qataris are ready to host. Others like Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Education Stadium, Stadium 974 and Al Thumama Stadium have been tested and proved suitable to host the world. The air conditioning system put in place in these facilities have been used to host experimental matches with visiting clubs and officials excited by the prospect of playing games under such conditions in a supposed desert country! 

Metro to ease transportation have been constructed, leading to most of the stadiums. More hotels have sprang up with other apartments constructed to accommodate those who prefer the homely atmosphere, away from busy hotels. The country’s airline, Qatar Airways, has increased flights into Doha from destinations around the world. In anticipation of the volume of visitors expected during the Mundial, an additional international facility, the Hamad International Airport, came into operation to replace the Doha International Airport in 2014. It was awarded the Skytrax’s World Best Airport in 2021, ending the seven-year dominance of the Singapore’s Changi Airport.

Given what Qatar has done to reassure the rest of the world their readiness to host, it is surprising that a country like Denmark is holding tenaciously to its position to wear ‘protest’ jerseys to play in the tournament. It has launched a not so bright-coloured jerseys to ‘protest  Qatar’s human rights record’. Its kits manufacturers, Hummel, claimed last month that the colour  is option to wearing black to honour migrant workers who died during the construction work for the finals tournament. “While we support the Danish national team all the way, this shouldn’t be confused with support for a tournament that has costs thousands of people  their lives,” Hummel said in the Instagram post last month. Similarly, some French cities like Lille, Strasbourg, Marseille, Nancy, Bordeaux, Reim and surprisingly, Paris have promised to boycott the World Cup also in protest over the supposed poor working conditions. How that will be possible in Paris in particular that has an existing contract with the PSG Foundation remains to be seen. Remember that the Qatar government owns the PSG Foundation and the football club in the French capital city? Except this is pure politics, it is doubtful if fans of the Les Bleuwill heed such directive to boycott when their arrays of stars line out to begin the defence of their trophy next month.

More refreshing is USA’s decision last week to send a delegation to the tournament when it kicks off. White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, on Wednesday afternoon confirmed. Jean-Pierre wouldn’t specify who would attend the tournament from the U.S., saying, “We’re still determining who will lead and join an official U.S. delegation to the World Cup.”

When questioned if the White House was contemplating not sending a delegation in an attempt to convey a message to the Qataris regarding their alleged migrant abuses, Jean-Pierre said it wasn’t being considered. “This is an important event, and we’re going to be cheering on the team, Team USA. It is not an unusual thing for us to do when there is an event like this,” the press secretary added. 

Still, despite sending an official delegation, the White House insisted they would always defend human rights. “President Biden will always and will continue to call out any human rights abuses. That is something that he never shies away from, whether it is leader-to-leader or whether it is speaking about it outright. And so that will be something that he will continue to do,” Jean-Pierre claimed. The U.S. will play Group B opening game of the tournament vs Wales on Monday, November 21st. And so, if the USA that lost the final bid to Qatar in the second ballot is sending delegation to cheer Team USA with its bright colours on display, it becomes a case of crying more than the bereaved for Denmark to resort to ‘mourning uniforms’ for this first tournament in the Middle East. We just can’t wait anymore for the party to begin in Qatar!