Qatar 2022 – A World Cup For The Ages

 

As the dust begin to find some semblance of calmness after what has been a month of sheer rollercoasters, we reflect on what has been; and what will be at the back of this. 

Cue December 2nd 2010. The then FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, has just announced a hitherto unknown footballing name as the host of the 2022 World Cup. The Zurich conference hall was reeling with the news and the western media were readying their inks for the diatribes that will follow. The circumstances surrounding Qatar’s emergence as host will yet be fully unraveled; what was clear was that it was a moment of footballing watershed; and even that might be putting it mildly.

Qatar spent approximately $200 billion preparing for this World Cup. To put this into perspective, Russia who hosted the event in 2018 and Brazil in 2014, had a combined spend of approximately $25 billion. This staggering jump was certainly Qatar saying to the rest of the world - “We shall give you a treat. Never mind the money.” The infrastructures built were glaring. For the first time in a football stadium, I was genuinely freezing with a jacket on. The metro was refurbished. Massive housing emerged. The entire country wore the event as a cloak. From Corniche to Lusail, from Al Bidda to Msheireb, you can tell that there is a fiesta going on. Try as they did, the western media efforts to discredit Qatar and make a ridicule of the spectacle fell on its knees. For many months, it was sheer propaganda and a bucketload of virtue signaling. From LGBTQ clamour to Human Rights concerns, the western media drummed the beats of war loudly but falsely. Some of the commentaries were as hypocritical as they come, and this is not even an attempt to go the whataboutism route. One of the outlets even reported that men would not be allowed to ‘wear shorts’ in Qatar. And oh, who knew that we could have fun without alcohol? While Qatar is not a perfect country, it had asked for respect for its conservatism and culture. It certainly wasn’t too much to ask for one would think.

Perhaps, the biggest story of this World Cup was the footballing experience itself. It is not a mark of senility that you would struggle to remember any World Cup with so many giant slaying stories, upsets, late twists, firsts and fairy tale endings. Qatar 2022 had it in abundance. If it wasn’t Saudi Arabia defeating Argentina, it was Morocco giving us a Cinderella story. The drama was everywhere, and to behold it live, was a true privilege.

And yes, this was a World Cup with many firsts. This was the first FIFA World Cup to take place in the Arab world. It was also the first time fans could attend multiple tournament matches per day. I thought this was a ‘dead on arrival idea’ until I arrived in Qatar to see that all eight stadiums are within 2 hours distance of one another. Yet, this is not all. The stadium 974 is the first fully demountable FIFA World Cup venue. Add to the fact that stadiums were fitted with air conditioning to keep players and fans cool. For the first time too, the official mascot of the FIFA World Cup could talk – La’eeb. And then we had an all-female referee line-up officiate a match in the men’s tournament for the first time

What will be the legacy of this tournament? Well, some of the statistics present us with some pointers. 2,450,000 fans attended Group Stage matches with stadiums at 96% capacity. 88,966 fans attended the Argentina v Mexico match at Lusail Stadium, the highest attendance since the 1994 FIFA World Cup Final. 16,687,498 passengers have been transported by both the Metro and Lusail Tram. And how about this for a cheeky stat - Fan noise recorded at Uruguay v Korea Republic – was 131 decibels. As loud as a plane taking off. It remains to be seen what this world cup will mean for Qatar as a nation going forward. One is tempted to think that for the country, it was more a repositioning opportunity, a chance to announce itself loudly more than it was an economic motive. Time will tell if those objectives have and will be fully met in the aftermath of the competition. However, one thing will remain extant – Qatar served us with some remarkable footballing experience, unforgettable side attractions, and a reminder that this sport we all love so much is a global one that speaks all languages!