DOHA, Qatar—A chance to change perceptions of a country. A tournament to foster unity.
Heard it before?
Just take David Beckham. The megastar and former England captain has been recruited as an ambassador for Qatar but has been kept away from international media—which shields him from facing tough questions but also prevents him talking up the tournament. Then there’s the fact that the 2010 FIFA vote that awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar was fuelled by bribes according to an investigation by the US Department of Justice.
The congress convenes again with not only the upcoming Qatar tournament fracturing football but the very future of the World Cup causing divisions. The push for biennial World Cups has stalled, though, as Infantino pulled back from railroading through those plans this week after Europe and South America resisted to the point of threatening boycotts.
That calendar had to be adjusted to accommodate a World Cup being played in November and December for the first time due to Qatar’s fierce summer heat making it potentially dangerous to stage it in June and July. The heat in the tiny Gulf nation has contributed to the working conditions that led to deaths among the workers building the World Cup infrastructure.
There is still concern about the enforcement of those rules on construction sites across the ever-expanding Doha skyline. The pressure is also on Qatar to continue legislating after the World Cup to protect workers more. Until then, teams are being asked to use the tournament to draw attention to the plight of migrant workers, mostly from southwest Asia.
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