Several eyebrows were raised when FIFA, football’s world governing body, awarded the 2022 World Cup hosting rights to Qatar. The tiny Gulf state has hardly had a tradition of football and its unfavorable weather makes outdoor sporting activities next to impossible, especially in the usual June-July window. So, to address the issue of extreme climatic conditions it was decided to shift the tournament to November and December when the country experiences mild winter. This again upset the schedules of other tournaments, especially the European league matches. However, notwithstanding the pressing issues, the 2022 football carnival is all set to take place from November 21-December 18 in the energy-rich Qatar.
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“I’ve never seen a country in the world which has been so ready so much in advance… it will be like a toy store for fans when they come,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said sometime back when he visited the country earlier this year.
The weather apart, the skepticism also rose from Qatar’s treatment of its migrant workforce and conservative rules, especially the ones pertaining to homosexuality and alcohol consumption. On labour reforms, the Gulf nation had off late made some rapid advances or course corrections but the outside world is yet not convinced as they feel the Gulf country needs to do much more on this count.
Shrugging off the unsolicited attention the country is attracting, Fatma al-Nuaimi, head of communications at the Qatar organising committee, said, “Since we won the World Cup (rights) we have received a lot of criticism. There is constructive criticism that we tried to take on board. We also try not to let this criticism stop us.”
Another doubt encircling the host nation is its ability to host the 32 participating teams and the fans pouring in from across the continents. However, the officials have dismissed this with the contention that there are enough options to accommodate visitors such as floating hotels and homestays etc. So, people need not worry as the country is well equipped to conduct the event successfully. However, not many are convinced as they feel the sheer volume of visitors, ie close to 3,00,000, is bound to stretch the Gulf nation enormously.
The last but not the least of the concerns is the rules about alcohol consumption, of course, a football world cup minus unrestrained booze is akin to a fizzled-out aerated beverage. Being an Islamic country, Qatar has strict guidelines regarding alcohol intake and the most notable among them is that it does not permit drinking in public. So, the sight of intoxicated fans celebrating on the streets can easily be ruled out in Qatar. But there are certain designated zones for fans to drink apart from licensed restaurants or bars. It has also come to light that normal ticket holders won’t be able to enjoy alcohol as liquor is included only among hospitality packages by FIFA, which for many might be simply unaffordable.
However, Akbar Al Baker, chairman of the Qatar Tourism Authority, addressing the concerns of tipplers, said, “Alcohol will be available in additional fan and hospitality locations… (drink) as much alcohol as you want.” Now one can only hope that the assurance from Al Baker eliminates, to a large extent, the worst nightmares of the majority of football fans spread across the globe.
