Istafa Ali
Due to Qatar’s oppressive heat, the football world cup had to be moved from its customary summer location to the northern hemisphere winter. When the circus travels to the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 2026, the competition will grow to 48 teams.There will never be another World Cup like Qatar 2022, despite claims from workers’ rights organizations and promises from FIFA’s president that it will be like “Disneyland.”
Few nations could have financed the $200 billion+ price tag for its remarkable transformation over the past 12 years that the tiny but extremely wealthy emirate has paid.Since the World Cup has grown to be such a costly and divisive behemoth, FIFA may struggle to find a single nation willing to take on the responsibility of hosting. FIFA is still reeling from the votes for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.
When the circus travels to the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 2026, the competition will grow to 48 teams. Since the day its sports-obsessed former emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, celebrated winning the competition in a ballot in December 2010, Qatar has felt the heat.
A FIFA inquiry into suspicions of vote-buying concluded that there was insufficient concrete proof to proceed. However, the majority of the 22-member committee supporting Qatar was replaced or was under investigation for wrongdoing. However, Qatar’s record on human rights, including the treatment of women and the deaths and pay of migrant workers, has drawn the most criticism for hosting the first World Cup in an Arab country.
Officials from Qatar claim that their nation has been the target of “racist” and “double standards.” They make reference to the groundbreaking safety and working conditions reforms that have been made in the Gulf region and are now discussing “legal” action. The government has constructed remarkable stadiums, new roads, hotels, and museums for the event, according to the current emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, who also claimed that there has been an “unprecedented campaign” against his nation.
Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA, declared that Qatar would host the “best-ever” World Cup both on and off the playing field. According to him, the one million foreign tourists will experience the attractions and toys “like a child visiting Disneyland for the first time.”
Akbar Al-Baker, the chief executive of Qatar Airways, who has been instrumental in the planning, emphasized the particular difficulty of holding the World Cup in such a tiny nation.
“This is the first and only time in history that something like this will occur since there will never again be a chance for FIFA to host a tournament of this size with the dedication that the state of Qatar and their Highnesses had to get this tournament here and execute it successfully.”
