How Qatar won the World Cup

It doesn’t substance whether Brazil oregon Argentina oregon idiosyncratic other lifts the trophy adjacent month, Qatar has already won the World Cup. 

Despite much than a decennary of captious sum — which astatine archetypal zeroed successful connected the bribery and corruption embedded successful the bidding process, and past highlighted Qatar’s regressive labour and quality rights laws — the Gulf petro-monarchy has emerged stronger than ever aft an unrivaled nation-building project. 

The World Cup, which starts Sunday, has helped accelerate Qatar’s development, supercharging the operation of high-end stadiums, gleaming buying malls, five-star hotels and a world-class airdrome — and enabled it to wield some geopolitical and sporting influence. 

And, nary substance the quality rights backlash, the tourney has immoderate of the West’s astir elder politicians onside. 

Emmanuel Macron connected Thursday joined the chorus of politicians asking radical to spell casual connected Qatar, saying that “sport shouldn’t beryllium politicized.” The French president was echoing a much-criticized FIFA missive earlier this month, successful which President Gianni Infantino told World Cup teams to stick to football and debar dishing retired morality lessons. 

Far from being a diplomatic repellent, the arguable World Cup volition alternatively invited galore elder Western officials. As first reported by POLITICO, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken volition be the U.S. vs. Wales lucifer connected Monday. Belgium’s Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib volition beryllium determination to enactment the Red Devils. Her British counterpart James Cleverly is besides going to Doha. 

Qatar has agelong been nether occurrence for its brutal usage of migrant laborers; its cognition toward LGBTQ+ rights; and imaginable state surveillance of fans. Externally, it was hammered by a yearslong blockade by its Gulf neighbors, led by Saudi Arabia and implicitly endorsed by then-U.S. President Donald Trump. 

But Qatar has seen disconnected some critics and enemies acknowledgment to its diplomatic dexterity, the leverage created by its immense hydrocarbon resources — and its willingness to splash the cash. 

“Qatar decided it was going to larn to thrust successful the accelerated lane of a motorway,” said Simon Chadwick, prof of athletics and geopolitical system astatine Skema Business School successful Paris, of the World Cup bid. “But Qatar had the wealth to beryllium capable to larn to drive.” 

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Some of the disapproval — which continues unabated connected the eve of the tourney — did deed home. And, successful astatine slightest 1 case, sparked change.

The kafala system, a sponsorship-based employment mechanics archetypal introduced by the British to Bahrain successful the 1930s, was ended by law successful Qatar successful 2020. In theory, this allows workers successful Qatar to alteration jobs without needing to get their employers’ permission. At the aforesaid time, Doha besides legislated a minimum-wage summation to 1,000 rials per period — oregon astir €264. 

Watchdogs, however, constituent retired that Qatar’s “toxic” labour problems — which person resulted successful the maltreatment and death of scores of South Asian migrant workers — didn’t extremity with the abolition of kafala.  

Men making accepted fences up of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 | Francois Nel/Getty Images

“I deliberation there’s a large persuasive statement to accidental that the strategy facilitates slavery oregon forced labor,” said Nicholas McGeehan, founding manager of FairSquare Research and Projects, whose enactment has focused extensively connected quality rights successful the Gulf. 

“There are different things that assistance power workers,” McGeehan added. “You person terrible amounts of debt, systematic passport confiscation, the lack of commercialized unions, the lack of civilian society, and the lack of immoderate entree to justness oregon bully wellness [care].” 

“When you enactment each these things together, they’re precise toxic, and they facilitate astir implicit power implicit the migrant workforce,” McGeehan said. 

Estimates vary, arsenic the Qatari authorities doesn’t stock authoritative information connected migrant idiosyncratic deaths, but hundreds of Nepalis person died successful the Gulf authorities of cardiac arrest, workplace accidents and termination since 2010, according to its authorities statistics. Meanwhile, Doha’s caller labour vigor laws connection “terrible protection” from the sweltering temperatures, McGeehan said.

Still, determination is immoderate backing for Qatar’s reforms. Marc Tarabella, a Belgian socialist MEP who is vice seat of the Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the Arab Peninsula and besides co-chair of the Sports Group, told POLITICO that, acknowledgment to the World Cup, Qatar has go “a bully illustration to travel for the different countries successful the neighborhood.”

And Qatar successful caller months has go progressively belligerent astir defending itself to the West, aft years of taking shots connected the chin. 

The country’s labour curate connected Monday told European Parliament lawmakers that Qatar had been taxable to a “smear campaign.” The World Cup’s ain apical authoritative said that disapproval of Qatar was “possibly” racially motivated. 

Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser al-Khelaifi, who isn’t connected to the World Cup organizing squad but is European sports’ astir high-profile Qatari, was much circumspect, telling POLITICO that helium is “very proud” his state is hosting the World Cup and isn’t “trying to hide” successful the shadows.  

“Are we doing everything 100 percent right? Maybe not. Are we perfect? No. But we are correcting things,” helium said. “The World Cup has done a fantastic occupation for Qatar: infrastructure, regulation. A batch of things changed; monolithic things.”  

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Perhaps the lone happening that tin present genuinely disrupt Qatar’s crowning accomplishment is simply a shambolic tourney from some quality rights and logistical perspectives. 

That’s thing detractors spot arsenic a wide possibility. 

LGBTQ+ fans who volition be the tourney inactive tally the hazard of falling foul of Qatar’s prohibition connected homosexuality. The assurances that quality rights groups person received from FIFA, crucially unaccompanied by Qatari authorities connected LGBTQ+ protections, are insufficient, said Minky Worden, manager of planetary initiatives astatine Human Rights Watch.

Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Escalating those quality rights concerns, a Qatari World Cup ambassador told German broadcaster ZDF that homosexuality was “damage successful the mind,” successful comments that sparked a backlash earlier this month.

Organizational questions besides stay conscionable earlier the tourney starts with Ecuador vs. Qatar connected Sunday, with tens of thousands of fans descending connected the tiny country. 

Ronan Evain, enforcement manager of Football Supporters Europe, told POLITICO that helium was acrophobic astir the grooming of World Cup stewards, the constabulary attack to supporters, and the logistics of shuttling fans to and from stadiums by bus. 

While Qatar — a state wherever the car is king — touts the nationalist transport developments expedited by the World Cup, lone immoderate of the stadiums are connected by the sparkling caller metro system. 

A last-minute U-turn connected beer by the Qatari hosts, present banned successful and astir tourney stadiums, triggered much anxiousness for quality rights groups, fixed the erstwhile assurances connected intoxicant depletion provided by Qatar.

And much than a decennary aft Qatar really won the rights to big the tournament, investigations rumble connected into the corruption that bedeviled the process and resulted successful the FBI knocking successful FIFA’s doors. French prosecutors are probing the alleged relation of erstwhile French President Nicolas Sarkozy successful helping Qatar triumph the bid, French regular Le Monde reported earlier this week. Qatar has ever denied that it won the bid by nefarious means.

On the activists’ LGBTQ+ concerns, a spokesperson for FIFA said the governing assemblage was “confident that each indispensable measures volition beryllium successful spot for LGBTIQ+ fans and allies to bask the tourney successful a welcoming and harmless environment, conscionable arsenic for everyone else.” 

In a statement, Qatar’s World Cup Supreme Committee said it “is committed to delivering an inclusive and discrimination-free FIFA World Cup acquisition that is welcoming, harmless and accessible to each participants, attendees and communities successful Qatar and astir the world.”

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But what happens erstwhile the circus leaves town? 

Qatar has shown singular geopolitical deftness to support saccharine the competing interests with which its fortunes are interlinked. It hosts the largest U.S. subject basal successful the Middle East, portion besides sharing entree with Iran to the state tract which generated its astronomical wealth.

Due to the ongoing Russian warfare successful Ukraine, “Qatar volition stay highly applicable successful presumption of vigor dynamics, particularly arsenic state begins to travel connected stream,” said Kristian Ulrichsen, chap for the Middle East astatine Rice University’s Baker Institute. “I deliberation they’ll proceed to play a relation successful determination diplomacy, particularly vis-a-vis Iran if there’s nary atomic dialog breakthrough.” Doha was a cardinal diplomatic subordinate erstwhile the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan successful 2021, Ulrichsen added.   

One of Qatar’s astir palmy exports, media conglomerate beIN Media Group, renowned for its planetary sports broadcasting limb but besides the proprietor of Hollywood’s Miramax movie studios, has been approached by assorted U.S. and Saudi investors funny successful buying a involvement successful the institution — arsenic the authorities mulls however to presumption itself connected the planetary signifier erstwhile the World Cup has been and gone.

At the aforesaid time, a idiosyncratic acquainted with the talks said U.S. investors are funny successful buying a involvement successful PSG, which is wholly owned by Qatar Sports Investments. QSI acquired a 22 percent involvement successful Portugal’s SC Braga past month, which was the concern fund’s archetypal measurement into multi-club ownership and a further motion of the accrued value of QSI and beIN for Qatar post-World Cup.

“I don’t deliberation they volition springiness up connected athletics being a constituent of the nation’s strategy,” said Mahfoud Amara, subordinate prof of athletics absorption astatine Qatar University.

Qatar volition big football’s Asian Cup successful 2023 and the multi-sport Asian Games successful 2030. Officials are presently besides successful preliminary discussions astir a bid for different crown jewel event: The 2036 Summer Olympics.