World Cup Qatar Will Be Great Football But an Ugly Game
The tournament will be a reminder of the clash in values between the liberal West and the rich Arab states.
An official FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 ball sits on display in front of the skyline of Doha.
Photographer: David Ramos/Getty Images EuropeWhen the World Cup kicks off next weekend, a Western sense of fair play will be outraged that a country without any native tradition in the game has won the right to host the tournament through financial muscle. Insult is added to injury too — due to Qatar’s extreme temperatures, the World Cup isn’t being staged during the usual summer break but in November, disrupting domestic soccer competitions in the northern hemisphere for six weeks. Fans and players just have to lump it.
The next few weeks will be a reminder of how the clash in values of the liberal West and the rich Arab states can play out in the international arena to everyone’s dissatisfaction.