Going to be a nightmarish experience for football fans at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar
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FIFA World Cup
We have heard of blow-hot-blow-cold. That is exactly what has been happening in the FIFA World Cup which kicks off on Sunday in Qatar. Memories from the last edition, held in Russia are fresh, where France lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy.
There is heat, anger, and outrage in Qatar — figuratively and literally — this time around. It has to do with the build-up for the mega event which features the best 32 teams from the world. Yes, Russia is missing but that has nothing to do with the sport but the madness called war unleashed by Putin on Ukraine.
Normally, a day before the World Cup, the entire focus will be on only football, the most beautiful game. No, this time what has grabbed eyeballs and headlines is a plethora of negativity from various quarters. FIFA has no qualms about what is happening right now, with its own boss, Gianni Infantino saying fans will not die if they don’t drink beer for three hours during the match.
Had this been told to the fans a few months before the World Cup, they may have stayed back in Europe or America and watched the matches in pubs and bars with paint on their faces. Fans have been taken for a ride, a royal one this time, in Qatar. Forget the madness behind banning beer at the eight stadia, to even run around hotels and get beer costs a bomb.
Worse, to read about fans, media, and many more thirsting for beer in Qatar and paying huge money is a reflection of how taking the World Cup to this part of the world is hugely debatable. There are snide remarks over beer being banned for good after the atrocious behavior of English fans at the last Euro. Nobody says soccer hooliganism is good. It is bad and the violence does go out of proportion.
Yet, in Qatar, there seems to be no sense of proportion for having any fun. There is a strong possibility if you have gulped down a few extra pints of beer at fan zones and go for a match, you could be hauled up by the security. There are clear messages fans will be dealt with strictly. Does that mean you have to sit in a classroom-type of atmosphere while watching Messi or Ronaldo fully cry? No way.
Sport is entertainment plus thrill plus high adrenaline. If you are going to remove certain human elements from it, there is a reason to feel bad. Sample this, some fans had been flown into Qatar for a fortnight and even promised pocket money. They were left high and dry and left to fend for themselves. Imagine, this happening even before the kick-off for the first match between the hosts and Ecuador.
Related – Boo! Beer ban KNOCKS out football fans in Qatar just before start of the FIFA World Cup
Shocking to hear from FIFA President Gianni Infantino fans can survive for three hours minus beer at a match
The essence of the soul of any big sporting event is the interaction with fans and how they enjoy it. Yes, during the Covid phase, fans were kept out. It included the last edition of the Tokyo Olympics when athletes had to perform in various arenas minus any cheering and clapping. That was a period when Covid was not in control in Tokyo. In Qatar, this kind of muffling fans and making it like an event that will be sombre, stinks.
A football extravaganza is not a time to mourn unless your team has lost. Football fans, by nature, are loud, boorish, and full of fun. You cannot kill the fun element in sports. That’s the soul of any sport. Looking at it from the perspective of how fans will have to dress, it sounds nightmarish. People flying in from the Western world are obviously going to be dressed in skimpy clothes, shorts, and so on, given the heat in Qatar. Well, to be watching football in an Islamic state and prescribed a dress code and be at best behavior is bizarre. This is not what one expected from FIFA, which has gone about its business as usual.
Imagine being at a sporting venue and keeping quiet, as if in tennis, when a player is serving. Compare it with the glam of Wimbledon where people come dressed most trendily in formal or in casual. They can drink beer and wine and pies and champagne. They know how to cheer. To expect the same at a football venue in and around London is impossible as the DNA of the sport is different.
Is Qatar going to tame fans or are fans going to evolve into a new specie where they have to follow various codes of discipline? If that is the case, this World Cup is going to be a disaster. After all, even though the United Arab Emirates has hosted prime cricket events, there have been no such harsh restrictions. Agreed, there is no booze served at the cricket stadia, but people landing in Abu Dhabi or Dubai can carry liquor to their hotels.
A lot of people will regret the FIFA World Cup was given to Qatar, going by the current news. Teams and players have no choice but to grin and bear it. May the best team win. May the best players soar, sky-high. Do spare a thought for fans who have spent loads of money to fly to Qatar. It seems jinxed!
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S Kannan
(382 Articles Published)