{"id":29909,"date":"2022-11-18T15:36:08","date_gmt":"2022-11-18T11:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?post_type=articles&p=29909"},"modified":"2022-11-18T16:16:46","modified_gmt":"2022-11-18T12:16:46","slug":"qatar-fifa-world-cup-opinion","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/qatar-fifa-world-cup-opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I\u2019m Standing By Qatar\u2019s Hosting Of The FIFA World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Doha, Qatar – November 24,2021: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 | Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An England flag is hanging from my balcony overlooking The Pearl Island in Doha; the anthemic \u2018It\u2019s Coming Home\u2019 is playing on repeat over the speakers. Face paints and wigs are ready in the bathroom; football shirts have taken pride of place in the wardrobe. Two days out from the start of the greatest football tournament on earth, the FIFA World Cup<\/a>, and like millions of fans around the globe I\u2019m counting down to kick-off.<\/p>\n

Qatar\u2019s<\/a> hosting of the first ever World Cup tournament in Middle Eastern history is finally coming to fruition, and having lived in Doha<\/a> for the past seven years, I\u2019ve witnessed first-hand what this means to the country and its people. Qatar stands ready to embrace its duties as host nation but despite its repeated assertions that the tournament will be welcoming to all, excitement has been muted by the negative media directed at the country.<\/p>\n

As a London-born liberal female, many of these stories run counter to my lived experiences in Qatar; with vast swathes of coverage being written by journalists that have never visited Qatar; nor ever sat and conversed with a Qatari. As a single woman I have never felt unsafe or threatened here. On the contrary, I have enjoyed freedoms that I can no longer take for granted elsewhere \u2013 walking home alone at night, dressing up without the fear of catcalling, at times even leaving my door unlocked. Through my work, I have encountered inspiring, pioneering, creative individuals from whom I have learned a great deal. I admit to having known very little about Qatar before relocating here and the process of discovering the country\u2019s historical and cultural tapestry has been illuminating. Exploring and appreciating different landscapes, both physical and philosophical, is, for me, what travel is all about. I have always been made to feel welcome here and at home. I have had enlightening, and at times challenging, discussions with Qatari friends about key issues on which there is a divergence of opinion; but these are conversations \u2013 not arguments or dismissals. They are dialogues; and dialogue is a precursor to understanding on both sides. Such is the scale of the current campaign directed against Qatar that even the most vocal among us have felt hesitant in coming forward to share truths such as this. But share, we must. Now is not the time to stay quiet, for that silence is a deafening perpetuation of a narrative that is not our own.<\/p>\n

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Doha, Qatar – December 27, 2021: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 | Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the twelve year build-up to the tournament, Qatar has faced scrutiny over its treatment of foreign workers. Far from shying away from such criticisms, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar, has listened to global outcry and taken action. Speaking to Qatar\u2019s legislative council, he stated that those early criticisms had been dealt with \u201cin good faith\u201d with the ruler considering \u201csome criticism positive and useful, helping us to develop aspects of ours that need to be developed.\u201d In 2020, Qatar announced landmark changes to its labour laws, including the abolishment of the kafala system \u2013 scrapping the need for workers to obtain their employer\u2019s permission before changing jobs, becoming the first country in the Arab Gulf region to enact such measures. Additional policies were introduced too, including the removal of exit permits, previously required by employees to leave the country; and the introduction of a minimum wage for migrant workers, becoming the second country in the Gulf region to implement this, after Kuwait.<\/p>\n

These historical reforms, designed to \u2018transform social, human, economic and environmental legacies\u2019, have been largely ignored in media reports. Rather than accepting such measures as demonstrable gains to workers\u2019 rights and using them as a means of continuing a conversation that had already begun to yield concrete change \u2013 to push, for example, for an increase in the minimum wage, greater intervention in the remuneration of delayed or unpaid wages, and improved living conditions; all of which must be addressed \u2013 many commentators dismissed them as mere \u2018window dressing\u2019. Given the levels of rising unemployment, homelessness, food banks, and child poverty, as well as the unsympathetic treatment of migrants in many parts of the world, including in countries most vocal in opposing Qatar\u2019s hosting of the tournament, it\u2019s not difficult to see why criticisms of this sort have been taken as evidence of double standards.<\/p>\n

In some outlets, criticism moved beyond calling for change and into far more dangerous territory. A caricature published last month in Le Canard encha\u00een\u00e9 depicting Qatari footballers as terrorists elicited uproar across the Middle East but barely a murmur abroad. Under the guise of satire, tropes bound up in Islamophobia \u2013 including weaponry, balaclavas, and aggressive physical attributes such as dark, menacing eyes and angry, furrowed brows \u2013 have played into a wider history of anti-Muslim sentiment. Players that have dedicated their lives to securing a coveted spot on the national team of Qatar are reduced to cartoonish figures chasing a football in the sand while carrying machetes, guns and rocket launchers. Surely these professionals, like their international counterparts, are deserving of respect?<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Khaled Beydoun (@khaledbeydoun)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n