2022 FIFA World Cup: Politics and the triumph of the beautiful game, By Reuben Abati
2022 FIFA World Cup: Politics and the triumph of the beautiful game, By Reuben Abati
2022 FIFA World Cup: Celebration as Saudi Arabia beat Argentina.
But for giving us the opportunity to laugh and be entertained beyond the perils of COVID-19, high inflation, the cost of living crisis and doomsday predictions of economists, the Cup of the world serves a great purpose at an appropriate time. When was the last time the whole world laughed and cried across the emotional spectrum, therapeutically, for something as refreshing as sport, the interplay of talents, emotions and national pride? COVID-19 has blocked our joys. The World Cup releases our emotions.
Contrary to initial predictions that the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar would be the most boring in World Cup history, it actually defies all such doomsday calculations and turns out to be an event of the more exciting. The quality of play is very high, the various players are superbly motivated, the fans are enthusiastic and as the tournament progresses everything becomes even more exciting. I find myself stuck in front of the TV set every day to follow this historic event. Initially, politics almost overshadowed the event, with FIFA having to write to the 32 teams playing a total of 64 matches in this year's edition to focus on football, not the protests that had been planned around the human rights issues. The government of Qatar, LGBTQ+ rights in particular, and the abuse of 30,000 migrant workers who were hired to build World Cup infrastructure. The government of Qatar has built seven new stadiums, an airport, 100 hotels and a fan park. The policy was such that seven captains of participating European teams actually announced that they would wear "One Love armbands". Denmark said they would wear "toned" shirts. Paris and other French cities have threatened not to broadcast matches in public places.
The Ukrainian FA has also called for Iran to be banned for "systemic human rights violations". Ahead of the tournament, Qatari authorities had to prosecute those who had fabricated fake World Cup trophies - with 144 counterfeit trophies seized, along with counterfeit clothing with World Cup logos. During the second week of November, a luxury liner dubbed by London newspaper The Sun, as HMS WAG, carrying the wives and girlfriends of the England Cup team of the world, has set sail for Qatar. Players, we were told, weren't allowed to set foot on the huge ship, but no one spoke of the WAGs going ashore to visit their men in the hotel bubbles in which they were going to be confined. There was also the issue of alcohol consumption. Consumption of alcohol is against the country's Islamic laws and beliefs. Homosexuality is also punishable by a fine or seven years imprisonment in Qatar.
The irony is that Budweiser, a beer company with a $75 million contract with FIFA, is the main sponsor of the tournament and has been a sponsor of FIFA for about two decades. FIFA first announced that it would be possible to drink beer in fan zones, but it was eventually reversed and Budweiser was told to only serve zero-Bud near stadiums. Now, Budweiser says the winning country will take all of its unsold beers from Qatar. FIFA also later agreed that people wishing to wear rainbow hats or bracelets could do so, after the Football Association of Wales vehemently protested the mistreatment of its fans, but as we now know, Qatari officials refused. Even after FIFA's assurance, fans wearing rainbow colors or symbols have been arrested or beaten up at train stations. The one man no one could do anything about was Tottenham Hotspur superstar and England captain Harry Kane, who decided to circle the pitch with an 18-carat diamond-encrusted Rolex Rainbow watch worth around 950 million naira - a massive show of wealth, but Kane was simply protesting on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community and indicating his anguish over FIFA's threat that any player wearing an O...
2022 FIFA World Cup: Celebration as Saudi Arabia beat Argentina.
But for giving us the opportunity to laugh and be entertained beyond the perils of COVID-19, high inflation, the cost of living crisis and doomsday predictions of economists, the Cup of the world serves a great purpose at an appropriate time. When was the last time the whole world laughed and cried across the emotional spectrum, therapeutically, for something as refreshing as sport, the interplay of talents, emotions and national pride? COVID-19 has blocked our joys. The World Cup releases our emotions.
Contrary to initial predictions that the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar would be the most boring in World Cup history, it actually defies all such doomsday calculations and turns out to be an event of the more exciting. The quality of play is very high, the various players are superbly motivated, the fans are enthusiastic and as the tournament progresses everything becomes even more exciting. I find myself stuck in front of the TV set every day to follow this historic event. Initially, politics almost overshadowed the event, with FIFA having to write to the 32 teams playing a total of 64 matches in this year's edition to focus on football, not the protests that had been planned around the human rights issues. The government of Qatar, LGBTQ+ rights in particular, and the abuse of 30,000 migrant workers who were hired to build World Cup infrastructure. The government of Qatar has built seven new stadiums, an airport, 100 hotels and a fan park. The policy was such that seven captains of participating European teams actually announced that they would wear "One Love armbands". Denmark said they would wear "toned" shirts. Paris and other French cities have threatened not to broadcast matches in public places.
The Ukrainian FA has also called for Iran to be banned for "systemic human rights violations". Ahead of the tournament, Qatari authorities had to prosecute those who had fabricated fake World Cup trophies - with 144 counterfeit trophies seized, along with counterfeit clothing with World Cup logos. During the second week of November, a luxury liner dubbed by London newspaper The Sun, as HMS WAG, carrying the wives and girlfriends of the England Cup team of the world, has set sail for Qatar. Players, we were told, weren't allowed to set foot on the huge ship, but no one spoke of the WAGs going ashore to visit their men in the hotel bubbles in which they were going to be confined. There was also the issue of alcohol consumption. Consumption of alcohol is against the country's Islamic laws and beliefs. Homosexuality is also punishable by a fine or seven years imprisonment in Qatar.
The irony is that Budweiser, a beer company with a $75 million contract with FIFA, is the main sponsor of the tournament and has been a sponsor of FIFA for about two decades. FIFA first announced that it would be possible to drink beer in fan zones, but it was eventually reversed and Budweiser was told to only serve zero-Bud near stadiums. Now, Budweiser says the winning country will take all of its unsold beers from Qatar. FIFA also later agreed that people wishing to wear rainbow hats or bracelets could do so, after the Football Association of Wales vehemently protested the mistreatment of its fans, but as we now know, Qatari officials refused. Even after FIFA's assurance, fans wearing rainbow colors or symbols have been arrested or beaten up at train stations. The one man no one could do anything about was Tottenham Hotspur superstar and England captain Harry Kane, who decided to circle the pitch with an 18-carat diamond-encrusted Rolex Rainbow watch worth around 950 million naira - a massive show of wealth, but Kane was simply protesting on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community and indicating his anguish over FIFA's threat that any player wearing an O...
2022 FIFA World Cup: Celebration as Saudi Arabia beat Argentina.
