FIFA World Cup: Politics, shoddy attendance numbers, shock results the tone of group stage

Doha: After a protracted, often vicious, twelve-year build-up to football’s prime event, they left after sixty minutes or even at half-time. The greatest show on earth didn’t seem to impress the Qatari. They filtered out of the Al Bayt Stadium, leaving swats of red seats empty, visible to a global TV audience. It was an embarrassment to fandom and genuine supporters.

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But, as one Qatari explained, there was a sense of anger over how Al Annabi, a team built on the back of at least a $1 billion investment, the know-how of the Aspire Academy and the greatest scouting exercise in history, had underperformed against Ecuador in the opening match. Yet, in the end, the MC announced an attendance of 67,372 - in a 60,000-seater stadium .

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It was one of the many peculiar sights at this World Cup, the first global finals to be staged in the Arab world. Construction workers, so omnipresent during the build-up, had vanished from the street view, shuttle buses ferried supporters back to the cruise ships that had moored in the port, World Cup branding with the words ‘Expect Amazing’ surfaced near labour camps, Bentley SUVs served as police cars and supporters were involved in skirmishes after Iran vs United States , unheard of scenes in the host nation, a police state.

But this did not detract from the sense of Arab unity and pride in hosting the tournament, a constant theme at these finals, often embodied by the ubiquitous presence of Palestinian flags in the stands. Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman wore a Qatari flag, previously unthinkable given the recent Saudi-led blockade of Qatar. The Emir of Qatar Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani returned the favour during Saudi Arabia’s 2-1 victory against Argentina . He wove a Moroccan flag as the Atlas Lions reached the last sixteen for the first time since 1986.

Screammminggg they have England thobes 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/oc7Qqg0qxR

— Free Palestine🇵🇸 (@chibiandchill) November 22, 2022

Supporters from all over the world, including Europeans, wore the ghutra, the traditional head scarf worn by men in the Arabian peninsula. Sam, an American fan who fled Iraq in the 90s for Michigan, returned for the first time to the region and praised the organisation and atmosphere as profoundly Arab. He, too, wore a ghutra and a thobe, in blue and red that is.

"Today, I feel Qatari. Today, I feel Arab. Today, I feel African. Today, I feel gay. Today, I feel disabled. Today, I feel a migrant worker."

FIFA president Gianni Infantino gives an extraordinary press conference ahead of the opening of the Qatar World Cup. pic.twitter.com/VYmx6kavOI

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) November 19, 2022

It seemed an embrace to the Arab world, but on the sidelines, the Qatar World Cup remained the most controversial in modern history. On the eve of the tournament FIFA president Gianni Infantino had set the tone himself . In a rambling and delusional speech, he said: “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel a migrant worker.”

Infantino was playing the victim. He was a migrant to Switzerland. He had been bullied at school, and, last but not least, FIFA was having it rough, following a barrage of criticism at the address of host nation Qatar over its treatment of migrant workers and discrimination of the LGBTQ community.

He accused the press of being divisive, and above all, he imparted moral lessons to the audience by, well, calling out the West’s moralising, the latter argument often rolled by the host nation: the West is hypocritical and racist. Infantino towing the Qatari line.

A longtime observer of the game, Henry Winter, the chief football writer of The Times, noted, “Gianni Infantino’s mad monologue made King Lear look balanced.”

Migrant workers have helped build Qatar's World Cup from scratch - but some are earning just £227 a month and sleep in dorms with up to 12 people.@AdamCrafton_ visited the 'mall for migrants' and a very different side to Doha's opulence... pic.twitter.com/eTcJdMV5pX

— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) November 30, 2022

Nicholas McGeehan, director of the NGO FairSquare, tore apart the racism argument. Explaining the criticism toward Qatar he said that it was because the country “maintains a horrendous system of discrimination against a massive and deeply vulnerable population whom it exploits and abuses dreadfully. There is Islamophobia and there is a degree of Western hypocrisy in how we treat that part of the world. A lot of this criticism isn’t about Qatar."

“It’s about the way sport is run and it’s the job of sports writers to hold the sport accountable. There are harmful stuff and stereotypes, but to argue this is driving the coverage is dangerous because it is an argument that is put forward by the Qatari state and has a well-funded PR operation behind it. It’s an argument that is being used to deny migrant workers, who have suffered the brunt of this World Cup, justice.”

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A few days after his bizarre press conference, Infantino suddenly felt ’less gay’, FIFA cracking down on the OneLove armband , a protest proposed by some European federation to highlight discrimination in Qatar. The Europeans obeyed Zurich’s orders. Perhaps backing out of an empty, corporate gesture like the OneLove armband was peak football politics.

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But all the controversy was not over just yet. In an interview, Hassan Al-Thawadi, the secretary general of the Supreme Committee for Delivery, said that 400-500 workers had died as a result of work on stadiums and construction related to the World Cup. “One death is too many, it’s as simple as that,” said Al-Thawadi, who then failed to offer a precise number when pressed. It was astounding because the implication was not to be mistaken: organisers were erasing the existence of these migrant workers by not being honest about their deaths.

By the time of Al Thawadi’s statement, the world’s focus had shifted to football. His interview didn’t get all the headlines. The group phase was gently meandering and bubbling. Qatar exited early, with a defeat at the hands of Senegal . Again, the local fans departed well before the final whistle. The stadium was not even sold-out. When was the last time that a host nation did not sell out their own group matches?

Saudi Arabia’s exploits at Lusail Stadium , Richarlison’s scissors kick in a dazzling attacking show by Brazil, Japan’s David-and-Goliath victory against Germany and Spain’s humiliation of Costa Rica were among the early highlights before the tournament ignited with upsets, endless permutations and late drama in the last set of group stage games. Mayhem was king.

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Belgium’s golden generation and a tearful Romelu Lukaku departed, and so did Germany after Japan excelled with a 2-1 rearguard victory against Spain . The Japanese success underlined Asia’s presence in the last sixteen with three representatives. South Korea clinched a spot on the final day of action, upsetting Portugal 2-1 .

Luis Suarez in tears on the bench…#FIFAWorldCup #TSWorldCup pic.twitter.com/8lHUzsS0nI

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) December 2, 2022

In a weird way, it may have brought a sense of closure for Ghana, who lost in their grudge match against Uruguay . Luis Suarez’s tears were uncontrollable. There were tears of joy for Morocco , who topped their group on seven points. For the first time in history, no team went through with a perfect record, not even Brazil.

In the first knock-out match, the Netherlands will take on the United States. Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal said that he was done with politics and that it was all about football now. In a way, he was right but also wrong.

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