While Qataris may view the World Cup as a job well done as fans go home with positive views, the legacy remains that more change is needed
It was one evening in Souq Waqif, a few days before the World Cup kicked off, when we first wondered whether things were quite how they seemed.
It wasn’t just this modern market, built to mimic an ancient souq but actually constructed in 2006, that seemed out of place.
Coming out of the metro every 20 minutes or so, as if on a schedule, were small groups of football “fans”, faithfully wearing their team’s colours and singing chants.
Rather than being Brazilian, Mexican, Tunisian or English though, they were mostly from Kerala – these were some of Qatar’s migrant workers, the same people who had laboured for years to build the tournament infrastructure, often in appalling conditions and all too often at the cost to their own health or even lives.
In their groups, they would do a lap or two of the souq, wave their adopted team’s flag and make some noise with whatever instrument they’d brought, or been given. Diners generally looked on amused, we got up to investigate.
Were these genuine supporters, as they swore blind they were, or fake fans, organised by Qatar to create an atmosphere as some media had reported?
After speaking to a few England “fans”, my producer and I were convinced that their football knowledge was too good, and authentic, to have been faked; others in our team disagreed.
Doha, Qatar. Pic: AP
They told us that they had been waiting years for this moment, and were determined to enjoy it because they couldn’t afford to travel to another World Cup; they had followed the Premier League for years and supported Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal etc. And why not? After all, this was the World Cup they’d built.
We didn’t meet anyone who said they had been paid to be there, as some newspapers had alleged, but unfairly or not, this episode was an early introduction to the insecurities of Qatar 2022 – a country as image conscious as the multi-millionaire footballers playing there.
Nothing about Qatar 2022 has been normal: Never has the football World Cup been played during European winter months; never has it been held in the Middle East; and never has a tournament been as controversial as this.
At $300bn (£247bn), it has been the most expensive World Cup in history as well as the shortest, played over just 28 days.
On the field, the football was at times exquisite. There have been moments that will live long in the memory: Saudi Arabia’s victory over Argentina, Ronaldo’s exit in tears, Harry Kane’s missed penalty and, of course, Morocco’s remarkable advance to the semi-finals, a huge moment for the Arab world.
The temperatures, although often hot at the height of the day, were perfectly bearable.
Harry Kane’s missed penalty will haunt England fans
The official World Cup songs, played on a loop in shopping malls and hotel lobbies, at stadia and on the streets, were annoyingly catchy, but fun.
Having a tournament based entirely around one city had its advantages – no air travel, no need to constantly move hotels, and no game was more than 40 minutes away.
The stadia, seven of the eight built from scratch for this tournament, were eye-catching works of architecture.
I thought Al Bayt, designed to look like a Bedouin tent, with burning wood fire outside and all, was quite breathtaking and utterly unique. After the tournament it will be converted into another shopping mall.
It didn’t start smoothly though. The eve of tournament “I am” speech by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, when he took aim at media coverage, was tone-deaf and ill-judged.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a controversial speech
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Early problems with the digital ticketing system prevented some fans from getting into matches.
Official attendance figures were so obviously exaggerated, and empty seats remained a feature of matches even in the closing stages.
The late decision to ban alcohol from matches was clumsy and broke a promise made by FIFA, but in the end few minded.
The bar atmosphere, a feature of so many World Cups, was missing and although that made for a strangely subdued atmosphere on the streets, in a month of football I witnessed only two drunk supporters: one, an Iranian unable to stand up before his side took on the United States; the other, an England supporter who rested his chin on my shoulder towards the end of a live broadcast and then presumptively volunteered his predictions for the upcoming match, including timings.
Instead, the atmosphere among rival fans was respectful and friendly. No bad thing.
On the pitch, matches were similarly well-mannered. By the quarter final stage, only seven players had been suspended for receiving two yellow cards, and just two red cards had been issued, one of which went to Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.
England managed to play more than 400 minutes of football before receiving their first yellow card of the tournament, which finally came against France.
Not a single England fan was arrested, and true to Qatar’s promise, LGBT fans were welcomed, with a few public exceptions.
In fact, the most common flag of protest wasn’t the rainbow, but the black, green, white and red of Palestine.
Morocco’s glorious run to the semi-final was a huge feature of the tournament. Pic: AP
It was an almost universal sign of solidarity, carried by fans of many nations, paraded by pitch invaders, draped over the shoulders of supporters, used in a victory photo by the Moroccan team, and displayed in hotels and on streets alongside the flags of the actual competing nations.
There were rumours that Qatari organisers secretly handed them out to fans; they certainly turned a blind eye in a way they didn’t to other political symbols.
The Abraham Accords are lauded by some regional powers, and Israel believes the Accords prove a softening of relations with past rivals, but travel through much of the Middle East and that sentiment it isn’t reflected by ordinary Arab people. Qatar 2022 reinforced that.
Palestinian flags were a common sight during the World Cup. Pic: AP
The first World Cup in the Middle East has briefly bonded the Arab world – it has been unashamedly Muslim in feel and tone, showcasing regional culture and in keeping with Islamic custom – the DJ set at the opening fan festival fell silent for the Maghrib dusk prayers.
The presence of the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the royal box at the opening ceremony, was a moment of genuine political significance; only two years ago the royal kingdom led a blockade of Qatar but that now appears to be forgotten.
The Qatari hosts, after a difficult start, are now relaxing in the success of a tournament in its final days.
And yet while it is right to highlight the successes, isn’t that also precisely what “sports-washing” is? The drama and joy of sport to distract from an uncomfortable reality.
As the football jamboree leaves town, we mustn’t lose sight of the problems this country, and others in the region, still have.
Will Argentina’s Lionel Messi finally achieve World Cup glory in his last chance?
We didn’t ignore the terrible human cost of building the World Cup infrastructure in the build-up to the tournament, and nor must we forget it, now that it is almost over.
Every day, I saw migrant workers staring out of dirty windows on ancient Tata buses, being driven to and from their worksites.
It was a jarring contrast with the new and air-conditioned coaches and modern metro that ferried tourists and fans seamlessly around the city. This is a land of the haves and have-nots, and more needs to be done to close that gap.
Foreigners weren’t allowed to visit the industrial fan zone where many of the migrant workers watched the games, but colleagues who did report none of the colour and buzz seen at the city’s main fan zones. There are two-worlds in Qatar, living in parallel but not as equals.
The secretary general of the Supreme Committee, Hassan Al Thawadi, finally confessed in a interview mid-tournament that the death toll of workers was somewhere between 400-500.
Whether that figure is anywhere close to the truth, it is certainly more realistic than the ludicrously low claim that just six had died, a figure that authorities had stubbornly repeated for months.
Sadly, the tournament claimed two more lives – one Filipino worker died at Saudi Arabia’s training ground, and a 24-year-old Kenyan died last weekend when he fell from the 8th floor of Lusail Stadium after Argentina’s quarter final win over the Netherlands.
The organising committee dismissed the first death as “part of life” and questioned why journalists would bring it up mid-tournament.
It shows a callousness for human life, too often on display among the elite – sure, accidents happen, just not on the scale they have in Qatar.
Moroccan fans after their national team knocked Spain out of the tournament
David Beckham, employed by Qatar on a staggering multi-million-pound contract to promote the tournament and the country, has been regularly seen but not heard – his reputational damage will take years to correct.
The past aside, but not forgotten, Qatar now looks to the future. So, what next for this small, but insanely wealthy Gulf state, now that the biggest show on earth packs up and rolls on?
Sporting ambitions remain – the Arab Cup will be held here in early 2024, and there are whisperings of an Olympic bid.
Next year the Formula One circus will arrive for the first of 10 annual Grand Prix and one of the World Cup stadiums will be converted to host women’s sport.
They will also look to tourism, but unlike their playboy neighbour, Dubai, which is increasingly reliant on package holidays from Instagram-obsessed Europeans hunting winter sun, the Qataris are focusing on the Asian and African markets.
Photo by AP
Indian weddings are a hoped-for source of revenue – another stadium will be transformed into a series of vast wedding halls.
It’s a shrewd ploy from a country determined to carve out its own powerful niche surrounded by equally ambitious neighbours.
Energy exports, worth $54.3bn (£44.7bn) in the first half of 2022 alone, have made this state rich beyond belief, and they will continue to find willing buyers in cash-strapped European partners struggling through winter, as the effects of the war in Ukraine bite.
Like all GCC states though, Qatar is yet to work out how to diversify its revenue as the world weans itself off fossil fuels.
Labour rights, which have been “significantly” improved in recent years according to the UN’s the International Labour Organisation (ILO), are still far from perfect and the ILO repeatedly insists there is much room for improvement.
Nevertheless, Qatar should be a model for other Middle Eastern countries to copy, if they have the humility too.
Disappointed Germany fans seen after their side crashed out of the World Cup
So was it worth it?
In short, yes. Ask a senior Qatari that question a fortnight ago, and the answer might have been different, but with the final now hours away, the overriding feeling is of a job well done.
If the many fans I spoke to, of all nationalities, are representative of most, then thousands will have returned home with positive stories to tell of Qatar. As a host country, that is as much as you can ask for.
Whether FIFA awards another winter World Cup, I have my doubts, and I rather suspect Saudi Arabia’s dream of holding the tournament anytime soon might end in disappointment.
As a stand-alone sporting tournament, Qatar should be congratulated. It was different, certainly, but the world’s biggest sporting event shouldn’t always be staged in the mould of football’s Western powerhouses. And this wasn’t.
In the end, however, it was football, not politics, that brought about change in Qatar.
Were it not for the World Cup, would labour laws have been improved? Would LGBT+ rights have been relaxed? Would traditionally rival regional neighbours have come together in the way they did?
Qatar, I hope, will realise that the World Cup has helped make it a more liberal, accepting and compassionate society; more change is needed and as the eyes of the world turn away once more, that change must still continue to happen.
This country is only part-way on a long journey of reform – the legacy of this World Cup is still being written.
World
Hamas releases last hostages included in first phase of ceasefire – as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are freed
Hamas has handed the last four Israeli hostage bodies that were included in the first phase of the ceasefire deal to the Red Cross.
The bodies of four Israeli men have been handed over in exchange for the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners.
A Red Cross convoy carrying dozens of released prisoners has been seen leaving Israel’s Ofer prison in the West Bank before arriving in the Palestinian city of Ramallah.
The group got off the bus to cheers from hundreds congregated outside, with some of the released men – clad in green jackets and keffiyehs – hoisted aloft by the crowd.
It was not immediately clear when the next detainees would be released.
Meanwhile, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the country had received the four bodies.
It said in a statement: “The coffins were handed over to the IDF at the Kerem Shalom crossing through Egyptian mediation. An initial identification process has now begun on Israeli territory.
“The families of the abductees are being continuously updated on the situation and will be given an official notification at the end of the full identification process.
“The public is asked to respect the families’ privacy and refrain from spreading rumours and information that is not official and well-founded. We will continue to update with reliable information in the future.”
The handover would complete both sides’ obligations under the Gaza ceasefire’s first phase, during which Hamas agreed to return 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Palestinian prisoners released from West Bank
Hours before the four bodies were transferred on Wednesday, the family of hostage Tsachi Idan said in a statement: “Our family has received with great sadness Hamas’s announcement that our beloved Tsachi is no longer alive and that his body will be returned to Israel during the night.”
It continued: “Since Tsachi was kidnapped, we received several signs of life, and in the previous deal last November, Tsachi was alive and expected to be released.
“We appreciate the tremendous love and support we are receiving from the citizens of Israel, the media, and the Nahal Oz community.”
The body of Tsachi Idan has been handed over. Pic: Bring Them Home
Egyptian mediators had earlier confirmed that they secured a breakthrough that would allow the handover of the final four hostage bodies due in the first phase of the deal after a days-long impasse.
Hamas said an agreement had been reached for the exchange of hostages for prisoners, but said their release would be conducted under a new mechanism.
It said the European Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza was preparing to receive prisoners after their release.
Israel had previously refused to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday after accusing Hamas of breaching the ceasefire deal by staging what it considered an offensive public handover of hostages in Gaza.
The staged ceremonies in which living hostages and coffins containing hostage remains were displayed on stage before a crowd in Gaza drew strong criticism, including from the United Nations.
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Gaza hostage family mourned in Israel
Days earlier, the ceasefire deal which came into effect on 19 January was held up briefly when Hamas handed over the remains of an unidentified woman instead of mother-of-two Shiri Bibas before delivering the correct body the next day.
With the 42-day truce due to expire on Saturday, it also remains unclear whether an extension will be agreed or whether negotiations can begin on a second stage of the deal, which would see the release of the final 59 hostages left in Gaza.
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Hamas said that, so far, it had not received any proposal for the second stage.
Despite numerous hiccups, the ceasefire deal has so far held up.
But moving to a second phase would require agreements on issues that have proved impossible to bridge in the past, including the post-war future of Gaza and Hamas, which Israel has vowed to eliminate as a governing force.
Underlining the precariousness of the ceasefire, the Israeli military said a projectile was fired from Gaza but fell within
the enclave. It said it was investigating the incident.
The exchange comes on the same day as the funeral for Ms Bibas and her two sons – four-year-old Ariel, and nine-month-old Kfir – who came to symbolise the trauma felt by many Israelis after the 7 October attack.
Donald Trump has said he will impose 25% tariffs on the EU “very soon” and claimed the bloc was “formed in order to screw the United States”.
The US president made the remarks while holding his first cabinet meeting at the White House since his inauguration in January.
The world’s richest man Elon Musk, who leads the US Department of Government Efficiency but is not a cabinet member, was among those present.
During his second term as president, Mr Trump has sparked fears of a global trade war by either imposing, or threatening to impose, high tariffs on both America’s allies and geopolitical rivals.
Earlier this month the US government imposed 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China.
Beijing retaliated by imposing 10% duties on many US imports and 15% tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas.
Meanwhile, the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada were paused after agreements were reached on border security.
‘They’ve taken advantage of us’
Asked whether he had made a decision about imposing tariffs on the European Union, Mr Trump said: “We have made a decision, we’ll be announcing it very soon and it will be 25% generally speaking and that will be on cars and all other things.
“The European Union is a different case than Canada, a different kind of case, they’ve really taken advantage of us in a different way.
“They don’t accept our cars, they don’t accept essentially our farm products. They use all sorts of reasons why not, and we accept everything from them, and we have about a $300bn (£237bn) deficit with the European Union.”
He added: “The European Union, it was formed in order to screw the United States.
“Let’s be honest – the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States, that’s the purpose of it, and they’ve done a good job of it, but now I’m president.”
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Putin is ‘very cunning’
Asked what he will do if the EU retaliates, Mr Trump said: “They can’t, I mean, they can try, but they can’t.”
He added: “They can retaliate, but it cannot be a successful retaliation, because we just go cold turkey, we don’t buy anymore.
“If that happens, we win.”
The threat of tariffs comes at a time of fragile relations between the US and Europe as the Trump administration appears to favour Moscow over Kyiv as it tries to bring about peace in Ukraine.
Mr Trump shocked European leaders last week by calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator with no elections”.
Mr Zelenskyy accused the US president of living in a Russian-made “disinformation space”.
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Elon Musk speaks at the cabinet meeting. Pic: AP
Ukraine to sign ‘very big’ deal
Asked at the cabinet meeting about security guarantees the US might be willing to offer Ukraine as part of peace negotiations, Mr Trump said: “I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much.
“We’re going to have Europe do that, because we’re talking about Europe as the next-door neighbour.”
Mr Trump also said Mr Zelenskyy will visit the US on Friday to sign a “very big” minerals deal.
The US president views the transaction with Ukraine as a fair way to recoup the billions of dollars that America has given Kyiv – via weapons and financial support – to help in their fight against Russia.
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Mr Trump went on to describe Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “very smart” and “very cunning person” during the cabinet meeting.
He said: “I think he wanted the whole (of Ukraine) when I got elected, (then) we spoke, and I think we’re going to have a deal.”
Ukraine NATO membership ruled out
Mr Trump also said he believes Mr Putin would never have invaded Ukraine if he was US president at the time.
Asked whether Ukraine could gain NATO membership, the US president said: “You can forget about it. That’s probably the reason the whole thing started.”
Mr Trump declined to comment when asked about whether he would ever allow China to take control of Taiwan by force.
“I never comment on that,” said. “I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.”
Mr Musk spoke briefly at the start of the meeting to explain why he believes the controversial cost-cutting measures his department has been carrying out have been necessary.
Cabinet members were then asked by reporters if they were happy with Mr Musk and how he has been carrying out his role.
Mr Musk started to answer the question, but Mr Trump interjected and said he might want to let cabinet members answer, before joking that if anyone disagreed, he might “throw them out”.
World
Trump shares AI video of Gaza vision featuring golden statues, bearded belly dancers and Netanyahu on a sunbed
Donald Trump has shared a bizarre AI-generated video on his Truth Social platform showcasing what appears to be a vision of Gaza under his proposed plan.
The footage, which the 78-year-old shared without comment, shows the war-ravaged territory before a caption appears: “Gaza 2025… What’s Next?”
It then goes on to show the area transformed into a Middle Eastern paradise with exotic beaches, Dubai-style skyscrapers, luxury yachts and people partying.
Pic: TruthSocial/@donaldtrump
Pic: TruthSocial/@donaldtrump
Pic: TruthSocial/@donaldtrump
It includes a “Trump Gaza” tower and a gigantic, golden statue of the US president – with miniature versions on sale in a souvenir gift shop.
A child is also shown walking in a street, holding a huge, golden balloon of the president’s head.
The video also features the world leader dancing with a scantily clad belly dancer in a bar – and sunbathing and sipping cocktails by a hotel resort pool with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Elon Musk appears in the footage several times – sitting on a beach eating humous with flatbreads as bearded belly dancers perform on the sand.
The billionaire boss of X, Tesla and SpaceX – who also leads the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which has been tasked with cutting government spending – is also shown throwing dollar bills in the air for people.
Pic: TruthSocial/@donaldtrump
Pic: TruthSocial/@donaldtrump
A song written for the video also plays in the background.
The lyrics go: “Donald’s coming to set you free, bringing the light for all to see, no more tunnels, no more fear: Trump Gaza’s finally here.
“Trump Gaza’s shining bright, golden future, a brand new life.
“Feast and dance the deal is done, Trump Gaza number one.”
Sky News has established the video was first shared online in early February by accounts with no apparent connection to the White House.
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What you need to know about Trump’s Gaza plan
Mr Trump announced his plan – for when the war between Israel and Hamas ends – earlier this year.
It includes relocating two million Gazans to neighbouring Arab countries and developing the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East“.
He described Gaza as a “demolition site” where “virtually every building is down”.
Pic: TruthSocial/@donaldtrump
Pic: TruthSocial/@donaldtrump
Laying out his idea of what would happen beyond an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, he proposed: “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too.”
He said America would be “responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site”, before it would “get rid of the destroyed buildings”, and “level it out”.
“Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs,” he added.
The White House described the proposal as “out-of-the-box” and “visionary” – but it was condemned as the effective “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians from Gaza.
Hamas described the proposals as “ridiculous and absurd” in a statement from one of its officials.
Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, which as fellow Arab nations support the Palestinian cause, also rejected Mr Trump’s plan.
Read more:
Analysis: Trump’s Gaza plan is so outrageous it might be something bigger
There was a mixed reaction to the video in the comments section below.
One person wrote: “I don’t think that’s funny or cool. Sorry. Am I missing something??? I hope it’s a joke a bad joke..”
“I hate this. I love our president, but this is horrible,” said another.
One Truth Social user wrote: “Mr President while I appreciate what you do, is not about you. To God be the glory and the honor, for without Him, you couldn’t have accomplished anything. The statue is a symbol of the antichrist, please humble yourself to God. Jesus is king and only Him.”
“You’re doing great Mr President. But don’t let it get to your head. God put you in that position for His Glory, not yours,” said another.
“Can we transform our US cities to look like this 2025 vision first? Our cities are dumps with ugly buildings and homeless people,” wrote one user.
“Everything looks good, just stay away from these guys,” said another, reposting a screengrab of the bearded belly dancers.
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