When Sepp Blatter admitted to the Swiss news that it was a mistake to give the World Cup to Qatar, he confirmed what the majority of us knew to be true. It was too late to do anything except place our bets and watch the sporting world slowly prepare for a World Cup surrounded by a political snowstorm of human rights and LGBTQ+ issues. After Qatar banned alcohol in stadiums just days before the World Cup start, it seemed to be the nail in the coffin of negativity for this World Cup. Footage from Sky and the BBC showed fans describing the atmosphere as ‘weird’ and a ‘let down’, and even filmed people who paid thousands of dollars to attend simply walking out of the fans’ village and going home.
After watching several interviews with fans from all over the world, the experience on the ground has really been far from positive. Tents with no locks, no air conditioning and swathes of the village unfinished even as the World Cup started, I am yet to find a fan who has enjoyed their World Cup experience. Indeed, the fact that the Qatari Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy paid people to attend should have been a sign that stadiums would not be full, especially not the halves belonging to the West, and that the atmosphere was doomed from the outset.
To deepen the growing controversy, it has now come to light that the businessmen linked to the Taliban helped to build the World Cup stadiums which has thrown many fans’ attendance for the latter stages of the competition into doubt. Furthermore, the protests by Iran – by staying silent during the national anthem ahead of their game with England – have caused yet more international tension over Iran’s treatment of women. Germany, Wales and Iran’s Carlos Queiroz have called for an end to politics, and hope that the next World Cup will be focused on pure football. Clearly, it will not be possible in 2022 as the stadium is quite literally built on a political quagmire.
However, there are glimmers of evidence that this chaotic World Cup setup will lead to a stronger Middle Eastern community. For example, the leaders of Middle Eastern countries have sat united in one stadium in solidarity in a rarely-felt-or-seen display of regional unity. The treatment of LGBTQ+ citizens is a uniting factor as is their shared mistrust of the USA, especially in light of the recent LGBTQ+ shootings which lead the Middle East to call the USA a ‘hypocrite’.
The World Cup infrastructure can also provide future stability to the region, in the form of hugely accessible public transport being built for the World Cup. Tourism will be able to bloom more easily, which could be an asset to facilitating cultural diffusion between countries in the Middle East and even wider world.
Leaving the Middle East aside, having a World Cup as controversial as Qatar is important for Western nations’ unity too. By embracing the issues of human rights and the LGBTQ+ community alongside national pride, it educates people and encourages them to take a stand in solidarity with one another. Hardcore football fans, after reading about Qatar’s shaky human rights, have chosen to boycott the World Cup. Whilst this may be a dive for the sport, it is a huge win for citizenship and responsibility.
As we wait for the outcome of Qatar to be seen, the political tone of the contest might not be to the detriment of the future of international relations, especially not between the states of the Middle East. Although we cannot relax and enjoy the World Cup as we all might have liked, it might be a crucial step in fulfilling other goals and addressing international issues in the wider world.
