The World Cup has kicked off in Qatar, which is hosting the games this year despite obvious reasons to not host the games. Unlike the past hosts of the World Cup, Qatar has never qualified for the world cup before 2022, has laws that don’t align with the celebratory customs of most soccer fans, is in the middle of a desert with few attractions and unbearable weather, and has a national team that consists of mostly people that aren’t from Qatar.
Host countries for the past few World Cups have been Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, countries known to have a large soccer fan base and things to do. Qatar has never been known for being good at or even liking Soccer, performing poorly in the Arab cup and having no representation in any prestigious club league. Their national team this year has only qualified because most of the players are born and raised in countries known for their love of soccer. For example, some of Qatar’s national team are from Senegal, Brazil, and Portugal to name a few; they’re harvesting good underground players as a loophole to qualify. Because soccer does not have the support in Qatar that it does in other host countries, Qatar did not have stadiums for the massive crowds that attend the games. They built seven new stadiums within the past four years for this World Cup, and I cannot imagine them being put to full use after it; I wouldn’t call that a good investment.
Another downside about having the games in Qatar is the heat. Players have complained about the over 90 degree Fahrenheit days on the pitch which, so far, have been the highest average temperatures in World Cup history. This, of course, is because Qatar is in the middle of a scorching desert. It doesn’t make sense.
Finally, Qatar’s strict Islam based laws such as strictly prohibiting alcohol and homosexuality does not align with the ideals of the rest of the world.
In many soccer loving countries, alcohol is a big part of fan culture. With people coming from all across the world, it is pretty insane that a complete ban on alcohol is being enforced. The World Cup is seen as a celebration in other countries and drinking during and after games is almost common practice. Night life is a big part of the World Cup and removing alcohol from the picture is definitely a downer.
Finally, Qatar is not fit as a World Cup host because of the poor human rights that exist in their country. Their banning of flying or wearing a rainbow flag has had a backfiring effect as activists have begun storming the field during games in protest and players(that cannot be detained) are wearing a rainbow armband. Players from many teams have stepped up to call out their host for their poor human rights towards women and the homosexual community.
I too think that it was very strange seeing the World Cup being hosted at Qatar. In terms of the athletic nature of the country, this was the first year the team even qualified for the World Cup, let alone majority of their team players don't even live within the country's borders. The country itself doesn't have greta human welfare and the World Cup jeopardizes a lot of laws enforced inside the country itself. It makes little to no sense as to why they allowed them to host. Great post and interesting point.
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