Dream destination

Bayern Munich training at the Aspire Academy ground in Doha.

As the muezzin called out for Isha (evening prayer) from Qatar’s grand mosque, Imam Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, bang opposite the Qatar Sports Club, Rakhal Chandra Malakar in his taxi waited patiently for passengers till the prayer got over.

Rakhal, 55, who came to Qatar from Boalkhali in Bangladesh’s Chittagong district in 1985 on a ‘free visa’, now owns the used car which he uses as a private taxi. Over the last three decades, he has since seen this tiny Gulf nation undergoing great change.

The country’s revenue comes from its gas and oil exports. But for the first time in more than a decade Qatar experienced its first budget deficit as a result of lower oil prices. There’s also a growing belief that a large portion of the country’s wealth should have been invested in healthcare and education.

Qatar is booming because of the 2022 event. Every day on an average, there’s maddening rush with fresh arrivals of expats at the luxurious Hamad International Airport. Virtually all of them come with a dream — earn tax-free salaries and financial stability.

But ‘all that glitter is no more gold’ as it has become one the costliest cities in the region and, the government too has tightened its budget and adopted measures to control over-spending.

A tax-free salary isn’t too a great thing in the oil and gas-rich nation now as the cost of living rose 1.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in the second quarter (Q2) of this year according to Consumer Prices Index (CPI) released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS). Housing rents, education, transport and tobacco prices remained above the overall general price levels.

The country is wealthiest in terms of per capita income in the world. Powerful sport officials as well as fading football stars Xavi Hernandez and Gianfranco Zola find a comfort zone here, with the former currently playing for top side Al Sadd while the Italian recently coached Al Arabi.

Qatar has poured money into the World Cup project with a staggering $200bn on infrastructure, including a new rail network, hotels and roads.

Yet, Qatar isn’t taking chances. The government’s austerity measures are done to control over-spending. 

The country wants its citizens to depend less on government jobs, handouts and subsidies and as Emir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani rightly said, “Qataris need to be a little more progressive and motivated.”

Can 2022 World Cup unite the Muslim world?

Doha is a confluence of people from the conflicting Arab nations — Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Iraq, Algeria and Tunisia.

Come to think of it, the 2022 World Cup hosts provide peace and succour.

At a coffee shop in Souq Waqif, I noticed a group of Arab youth on couches, listening to Middle-East’s popular singer Fairuz Mostly in their early 20s. They nibbled the sugary ‘baklava’ and smoked sisha (water-pipes), billowing it into the air.

The Syrian crisis, civil war in Yemen and the unending tussle in Palestine have turned the Arab region into a veritable fire ball, but it was difficult to spot a Shia, Sunni or Christian in that group.

Former Barcelona star Xavi Hernandez, who now plays for Qatar's
Al Sadd Club, is flanked by QFA officials.

I enquired from my Lebanese friends if Beirut was safe to visit because I’m still hounded by the violence and bombings when I was a child, watching the footages in early 80s.

It was all peace and fine, but suicide attacks in Beirut has upset me. The reverberation was heard in Baghdad too. As the volatile Arab region continue to dodge peace, I wonder if the Gulf’s maiden World Cup can ever unite Islam?

Middle Easterners are waiting for the World Cup to happen so that they can show their region isn’t solely defined by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and frequent violence. The FIFA tournament is an excellent opportunity to unite the warring Arabs, but most non-Arab expats also wonder why the Muslims are always at loggerheads in this part of the world.

Is it all about arrogance being wealthy, intolerance or ideological differences that divide the Muslim world?

“We need to break down those perceptions about what we’re,” said Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy Secretary General Hassan Al Thawadi.

When I went to cover the Gulf Cup in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh last year, I saw what football meant to the Arabs.

Yemen was and still on fire, but their motley population flocked to the King Fahd International Stadium in their open-hooded Nissan pick-up vans and cars. Yemen was playing against the host nation in a group game and they wanted to show solidarity.

Football provides a great social distraction from ongoing violence by creating a sense of harmony amongst traditionally divided groups, and the Gulf Cup was one such occasion.

But the FIFA tournament will see fans in large numbers from the region — there’ll be Sunni and Shiite Muslims as well as Middle-East Christians as well as Arab nations from North Africa.

“For the Arabs, the World Cup is a symbol of pride,” said one Yemeni, who has been working in Doha since 2006. His house in Aden has been blown into pieces by the Houthi rebels, but his family has found peace and shelter in Qatar.

“Hosting the World Cup constitutes a real opportunity to enlighten the future of the region and will contribute to the recovery of its economy and give clear hope for the youth,” he added.

Qatari officials claimed two billion people live within a four-hour flight radius of Doha. This means the World Cup, which has been held 10 times out of 20 in Europe, will have a Middle Eastern flavour.

Cairo, Tehran, Baghdad and Beirut are approximately three hours flight-time away. Istanbul is four hours while Gulf neighbours just a hop away, with Riyadh and Dubai is a six-hour drive from Abu Samra, Qatar’s only land border with Saudi, some is 90km from Doha.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Oman — have backed Qatar against the barrage of criticisms by the western media over the alleged vote-buying in the bid process.

Other Arab nations Iraq, Jordan Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt, who all participate in the Arab Games, have shown solidarity with the oil-rich nation, but we’ll have to wait post-2022 to see if the World Cup really diffused the flames in the region.

In search of passionate fans!

Getting 'real' fans a big problem

After the end Qatar’s FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Maldives at the Al Sadd Stadium last month, a host of fans dressed in white robes, rushed to catch the buses parked outside the venue. They spoke in ‘Chitang’ (Chittagong) Bangla dialect, others in Hindi and African and a close look at their faces revealed their nationalities — Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Sudan, Nigeria and other African nations.11

The labourers and workers, masked as ‘fans’, got a token gift of few Qatari riyals and a KFC packet to fill their heart and tummy during the 90 minutes match, but all they needed to do was add lip-sync ‘Annabi, Annabi’ to the band played at the stands to support the Qatar national team against the Chinese side.

Qatar won 1-0 and the following one too against Maldives (4-0) to top the Group C qualifiers in the second round, but the apathy of real fans continued to be one of the grey areas.

Qatar has a population of about 2 million, but just one in eight are Qataris. The majority are migrant workers from the Philippines, India, Pakistan and an incredible 400,000 are from Nepal. Most of them are working on the building sites that will help Qatar deliver the Middle East’s first World Cup.

Even during the country’s top flight competition — Qatar Stars League — the teams play mostly to the empty stands with many past international greats have lamented the thin presence of local fans.

Barring Al Rayyan club, which has a sizeable presence, others struggle to fill their stadiums and, it’s only then they fall back on the companies to ‘borrow’ their workers and get them to applaud and do the wave.

Not having their own people at the stadiums is something needs to be addressed. It’s one of the biggest problems ailing the FIFA 2020 World Cup hosts as most Qatari youths don’t have a great liking for any sports. They’re attracted to the posh malls and other landmark places in the city for an evening outing where they keep themselves busy on mobile phones and tablets.

“Easy money is affecting our society,” said one top Qatari official, who nicely summed up the issue.

The Qatari clubs don’t have any ancient rivalry history like Real Madrid-Barcelona or our own Mohun Bagan-East Bengal and, this could probably be one of the reasons why the Qataris turn their faces away from football stadiums.

Besides, a nationalistic feeling is of utmost important to bring the people together at sports venues, which are micrographic representations of societies.

Interestingly, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) determines the quota of a country’s representation in the continent’s premier club tournament Champions League, based on the attendances at different venues.

Qatar were ranked ninth overall in last year’s list published in November, having bagged only 56.103 points out of 100, with Saudi Arabia second (88.268) and UAE seventh (57.792).

Every year, the top clubs recruit big international names, but they too have not been impactful. Barcelona and Spain great Xavi joined a growing list of well-known players and managers, but the Spaniard ended up playing in front of empty stands in his debut match for Al Sadd in August.

In fact, the clubs should engage women and children in a culturally-sensitive manner to increase attendance at their league matches. Just like the major restaurants and dining places have separate family areas, the football venues must also cater to the families. Unlike in Saudi Arabia, where the women are barred from entering stadiums, Qatar is a bit open about welcoming families to the venues.

“In Europe, we’ve a culture of going to matches with friends or family and watch the game together. But in Doha, people hang out with friends, have shisha (hookah) and watch games on TV,” said Dutchman Huib de Vries, a Doha resident and a die-hard Sadd fan.

Instead of a Xavi, clubs must hire players from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal — who have huge expatriates in the country. 

The communities will only then take interest in the local league and genuinely support the teams instead of having ‘masked’ fans waiting at the queue for a spicy-cheesy KFC burger! 

Let's not confuse FIFA's corruption with Qatar 

Anyone who follows football would agree with me FIFA is as corrupt as any third world nation. The arrests of some of its top executive members and the beginning of criminal procedures against them in Switzerland was seen as a biggest blow on Sepp Blatter as the Swiss readies himself to retain the seat of power on Friday.

But more than the arrests of FIFA officials, the European media have started their tirade against the 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar.

I've always maintained that there's no link between the tainted officials and the bid which was won by Qatar in 2010. I see it as western media's propaganda against the Gulf nation’s ambition. Many in Europe also never liked the idea of shifting the World Cup from its summer date to winter.

While the international body had already proposed for a winter World Cup and Qatar was cleared from any wrongdoings last November, the arrests of FIFA Excom members are unrelated to the bidding process. The Switzerland Attorney General had first opened its probe in March on suspicions that irregularities had occurred in the allocation of the FIFA World Cups of 2018 and 2022.

Europe is against Blatter because of his 'favouritism' towards African and Asian nations. The Swiss is a master tactician and knows his vote bank lies with the world's two largest continents and the CONCACAF region. Blatter, who first became FIFA President in 1998, would know how strong his support base is. He also had divided the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) with once his close aide, Jordan's Prince Ali bin Ali Hussein from West Asia is standing against him in the Friday election. Blatter has smartly divided the Arab world with AFC head Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa-led West Asia expected to stand behind Blatter.

The Jordanian is the only challenger to Blatter after former Portugal international Luis Figo and Dutch Football Federation boss Michael van Praag withdrew so as not to split the anti-Blatter vote. Blatter has enough confidence to win, which is really unfortunate. Even though he’ll evade arrest, ‘uncle’ must take responsibility for creating a climate within FIFA which has led to various scandals.

Blatter has been seating on a bed of wealth since 17 years, but there’s too much uncertainty and a lot of evidence and stuff to come onto the table. Till then, the arrests of FIFA members shouldn’t be linked with Qatar’s bid as the nation is prepared and is raring to host one of the most spectacular World Cups.

Delivery Amazing

Khalifa International Stadium design

As Qatar gears up to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, its venues are sure to astound and inspire.

The spectacular design of the Khalifa International Stadium, which is under renovation, was jointly unveiled by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SCDL) and Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) at Riyadh’s Ritz Carlton Hotel last Monday, in the presence of dignitaries from competing countries at the Gulf Cup.

The AZF, which is located within the stadium precinct, is providing logistic support to the SCDL in revamping the facility.

The SCDL had unveiled the designs of the Al Wakrah and Al Bayt-Al Khor City Stadium last November and this June respectively.

The Supreme Committee said work on five proposed venues would start before the end of this year while the unveiling of the designs of the Qatar Foundation Stadium at Education City and Al Rayyan Stadium is expected soon.

Built in 1976 and renovated for the Asian Games in ’06, the Khalifa Stadium will undergo a comprehensive renovation to meet the FIFA standards. It will include a new building in the east wing and a single roof to cover the whole seating area.

The stadium will also house the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, which features historic collections and interactive exhibits, demonstrating the strong relationship that connects Qatar with world sports.

Like in the other stadiums and training sites for the World Cup, cooling technology will be used to ensure the players and fans enjoy a comfortable atmosphere. The SCDL had tested the new technology at two open-air Fan Zones at the Katara Cultural Village and Aspire Zone during the Brazil World Cup in June-July.

The Fan Zones, where the temperatures were regulated to provide a comfortable environment for spectators, were a great success.