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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.

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Doha, Qatar. Pic: AP
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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.

England's Harry Kane appears dejected following defeat after the FIFA World Cup Quarter-Final match at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar. Picture date: Saturday December 10, 2022.
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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.

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - FIFA President Press Conference - Main Media Center, Doha, Qatar - November 19, 2022 FIFA president Gianni Infantino during a press conference REUTERS/Matthew Childs
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a controversial speech

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England’s footballers are coming home – and so is Dave the cat

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.

A fan of Morocco ahead of the World Cup semi-final against France at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar (Pic: AP)
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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.

Supporters show a flag reading "Free Palestine" on the tribune during the World Cup group A soccer match between the Netherlands and Qatar, at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor , Qatar, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
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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.

Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their second goal against the Netherlands
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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.

Spain have been knocked out of the World Cup after losing on penalities to Morocco, leading to jubilation among Moroccan fans.
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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
Image:
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 as their side crash out of the World Cup in Qatar
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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.

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‘People were crying, they were trapped’: Spain reels from deadly flash floods

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'People were crying, they were trapped': Spain reels from deadly flash floods

Emergency responders are searching for bodies inside stranded cars and buildings following deadly flash floods in Spain that have killed at least 158 people.

Scenes of destruction have been left in the wake of the powerful floodwaters which hit the east of the country late on Tuesday and early Wednesday, marking Spain‘s worst natural disaster this century.

Cars have been piled high on top of each other, homes and businesses have been swept away, trees have been uprooted, and roads and bridges have been left unrecognisable.

Spain flooding latest: Looting breaks out as flood deaths rise

Damaged cars are seen along a road affected by torrential rains that caused flooding, on the outskirts of Valencia, Spain.
Pic: Reuters
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Damaged cars along a road on the outskirts of Valencia. Pic: Reuters

People work to clear a mud-covered street with piled up cars in the aftermath of torrential rains that caused flooding, in Paiporta, Spain, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Eva Manez
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People work to clear a mud-covered street in Paiporta. Pic: Reuters

At least 92 people have died in the worst-hit region of Valencia, while deaths were also reported in Castilla La Mancha and southern Andalusia.

An unknown number of people remain missing.

“Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles,” Spain’s transport minister Oscar Puente said.

In the Valencian district of La Torre, nine dead bodies were discovered inside a garage – with a local police officer among the victims.

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Man pulled from deadly floods

Luis Sanchez, a welder, said he saved several people from floodwaters rushing through the V-31 motorway south of Valencia city.

“I saw bodies floating past. I called out but nothing,” Mr Sanchez said.

“The firefighters took the elderly first, when they could get in. I am from nearby so I tried to help and rescue people. People were crying all over, they were trapped.”

Read more on this story:
Lives have been ripped apart in Spain
Floods hit ‘like a tsunami’ – eyewitness

Satellite images from NASA show how severe flooding has impacted Valencia and its surrounding towns.

The images, captured on 30 October, show large areas to the south of the city covered in floodwater.

The Turia river, which runs through the city, can be seen at a much higher level.

The Pobles del Sud, a large lake nearby, overflowed. Much of the area surrounding the lake was covered in floodwater.

The worst of the destruction was concentrated in Paiporta, a municipality next to Valencia city, where 62 people have been reported dead.

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Spanish town ‘worst-hit’ by floods

Mayor Maribel Albalat told national broadcaster RTVE: “We found a lot of elderly people in the town centre. There were also a lot of people who came to get their cars out of their garages… it was a real trap.”

What has caused the devastation?

The flooding events in Spain have been hard to witness. But the rainfall there could never have been anything but devastating.

Chiva, located just to the west of Valencia, received 491mm of rain in an eight-hour window.

Some 100-200mm fell in surrounding areas with the accumulation of running water producing apocalyptic scenes.

In addition there have been over 20,000 lightning strikes.

Whilst the rainfall totals are astounding in themselves, this part of the world is simply not accustomed to huge quantities of water falling from the sky.

In an average year, Spain would expect somewhere between 50 and 100 mm of rain throughout the entire month of October but Valencia and Andalusia would expect far less – just 60–70mm. 

So how did this happen? It’s attributable to a DANA, a “depresion aislada en niveles altos” or a “cut-off low”. 

This is a low pressure system which becomes slow moving or stationary, blocked by high pressure elsewhere, which can only keep shedding its rain over the same area for long periods of time.

These systems are not that unusual. They occur when cool air from the north is drawn across the Mediterranean in late summer and autumn when the waters are war. The temperature differential enhances storms and rainfall totals.

But whilst not uncommon, this one was certainly extreme. 

And it hasn’t gone yet. This same system has continued to bring further heavy rain and thunderstorms today, but it has now moved a little further north and east, heading toward the French border and currently remaining to the west of Barcelona. 

The rain and thunderstorms are likely to continue for a few days yet with the Tarragona and Castellon regions still under an amber warning while a yellow warning remains in force for both eastern and western Spain.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday morning that Valencia had been declared a disaster zone and that the priority was to find victims and missing people.

He also urged those affected to stay at home as more torrential rain was forecast.

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“The most important thing is that I know Spanish people are aware that this phenomenon has not finished,” he said.

Sky News’ Europe correspondent Adam Parsons, reporting from Valencia, said the devastation suffered in the region is “enormous”.

“What we’re witnessing now are the locals here who are waking up and seeing what’s happened to their town and what has happened is something almost apocalyptic,” he said.

A nearby shop was left “absolutely wrecked” and looked like a “bomb has gone off in there”, he added.

Three days of mourning has been declared in Spain, beginning on Thursday.

Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this was the most powerful flash flood event in recent memory, and scientists have linked its strength to climate change.

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‘No one came to rescue us’: In this destroyed Spanish town, people are angry

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'No one came to rescue us': In this destroyed Spanish town, people are angry

In the Spanish town of Algemesi, people are angry.

The suburb of Raval was one of the worst hit by flash flooding but residents feel abandoned.

At least 158 people have been killed in the disaster in eastern Spain – with the worst of the flooding concentrated around the Valencia region.

Spain floods latest: Looting breaks out as flood deaths surpass 150

“When the alert came the water was already two metres high,” Carolina shouts from her balcony. “There were no police, firefighters or the mayor. No one came to rescue us.”

The distress is echoed street after street.

Carmen puts her head in her hands and weeps.

“They have lost everything,” she says, pointing at her neighbours’ houses.

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‘People were crying, they were trapped’
Utterly random damage in town where 40 died

Every home is in ruins and their owners are heartbroken.

Dolores shows us inside her house. She says the flood was up to the ceiling but because no help came, they have had to hammer holes in the walls to clear the water.

“I feel awful. I’m terrified and very afraid. My husband is sick – we need more help,” she says.

Carmen says her neighbours have lost everything
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Dolores says her family had to hammer holes into the walls of their home

The level of destruction is immense.

On the street, we meet Noel with his children. The youngest toddler barefoot in the mud.

Yesterday, Noel and his wife had nothing to eat. He feels helpless.

Noel says he doesn't have access to water, light or food
Image:
Noel says he doesn’t have access to water, light or food

“Right now, there are people who are trapped. The mud is up to their waists, so they can’t open their doors,” he says.

“I live on a high floor so I didn’t have problems with the flooding in my home, but I don’t have water, light, or food.”

There’s a growing feeling of desperation in this suburb.

At one point, someone shouts “food!” and people rush to grab what they can from a nearby shop.

It’s not clear if they have been let in by the owner or are looting.

The devastation is so great and at a time when people are at their most in need, they feel frustrated and alone.

In a nearby shelter we meet people from Algemesi who have been made homeless by the flood.

Carol says she has never felt so hopeless.

Carol says there is 'nothing left'
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Carol says there is ‘nothing left’

“There was a tree trunk that came into the front of my house. There are no walls, no ceiling. I don’t have anything. There’s nothing left,” she explains, beginning to cry.

For many, the initial trauma of this natural disaster has been compounded in the aftermath by a feeling of loss and loneliness.

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Ukraine war: Thousands of North Korean troops near Ukraine border will enter battle ‘within days’, says Blinken

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Ukraine war: Thousands of North Korean troops near Ukraine border will enter battle 'within days', says Blinken

Thousands of North Korean soldiers are now positioned near Ukraine’s border and likely to enter combat in the coming days, the US says.

Russian troops have been training them in artillery, drones and “basic infantry operations, including trench clearing”, said US secretary of state Antony Blinken.

He said it strongly indicated they would be used on the front line and would therefore become legitimate targets for Ukraine.

Some 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, including up to 8,000 in the Kursk border region, Mr Blinken said.

The troops are wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian gear, according to US defence secretary Lloyd Austin.

Read more: Where have North Korea troops been seen in Russia?

“We’ve not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the
coming days,” Mr Blinken said on Thursday.

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America’s top diplomat said the recruitment of troops from North Korea to Russia’s “meat grinder” was a “clear sign of weakness”.

South Korea and the US discussed the issue in Washington on Thursday. Pic: Reuters
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A South Korean and US delegation met in Washington DC. Pic: Reuters

Mr Blinken made the assessment after he and Mr Austin met their South Korean counterparts in Washington DC.

Foreign minister Cho Tae-yul called for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean soldiers from Russia and condemned it “in the strongest possible terms”.

They also all agreed China should do more to rein in North Korea, Mr Blinken said, adding that he’d had a “robust conversation” with Beijing this week.

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The Kursk region borders eastern Ukraine

Mr Austin also announced that – with the US election just days away – America would soon be announcing new security assistance for Ukraine.

The deployment of troops to Russia is down to the close relationship between President Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

The leaders last met in June when Mr Putin travelled to North Korea for the first time in 24 years.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un together in Pyongyang in June. Pic: Reuters
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President Putin and Kim Jong Un went for a drive together in Pyongyang in June. Pic: Reuters

A mutual defence pact was agreed during their summit, meaning the countries will help each other if they are attacked.

The US says North Korea has also given munitions to Russia as it continues its grinding effort to take more territory in Ukraine’s east.

The White House published images earlier this month which it said showed 1,000 containers of equipment being sent to Russia by rail.

There are concerns about what military aid Russia will now provide in exchange.

North Korea test-fired an an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in almost a year on Thursday and there is speculation Russia may have provided technological help.

South Korean TV showed pictures of Thursday's launch by the North. Pic: AP
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South Korean TV showed pictures of Thursday’s launch by the North. Pic: AP

In a statement, the US, Japan and South Korea condemned the launch as a “flagrant violation” of UN resolutions.

“We strongly urge (North Korea) to immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilising actions that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond,” they said.

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