The first World Cup I can recall is Italia 90. I remember the excitement every evening as the television coverage would begin. I spent hours poring over trivia and team news until I knew every detail by heart. Drove my family crazy with my random pop quizzes about everything World Cup.
In those days in Bangladesh you either supported the Seleção or the Albiceleste. The whole country would be awash with the Brazilian or Argentinian flags, and you won't even see a smattering of the other flags that you see these days. However, I chose to support Germany, becoming a lifelong fan of Juergen Klinsmann in the process. Italia 90 sealed my love for football, and the German Nationalmannschaft gained an avid follower.
All in all, it has been an enjoyable ride. The German national team has been consistently good, with decent results in major tournaments (2018 World Cup notwithstanding). I greatly admire their focus on teamwork, building up players from the grassroots, and not shying away from experimenting with new approaches or unknown players. Or their preference for favouring dogged hard-work over cultivating prima donna superstars. I respect their “tournament team” mentality immensely, and to me it is little wonder they have enjoyed as much success as they have.
I live in Qatar, and have been eagerly looking forward to the World Cup in my own backyard. Got my coveted German match tickets, and the stadium experience for the Germany-Japan game was fantastic. But I came out of the stadium a disappointed fan. Yes, the result of the match was unexpected, and we can talk about whether it was an issue with team selection, tactical failure in the field, or sheer bad luck. However, it is a World Cup and upsets are bound to happen. We already saw the Saudis pull off their historic win against Argentina just the day before.
What disappointed me more than the results was the German players choosing to cover their mouths in protest before the game. According to their coach Hansi Flick, this was meant to represent FIFA “muzzling” them against wearing the OneLove Armband. I am not questioning the validity of the cause this protest is about, but that is a different conversation, for a different place.
What disappoints me is the rank hypocrisy of it all. Bayern Munich is the best German Bundesliga club by a long stretch, and the core of the German national team has traditionally been drawn from Bayern players. This year is no different, with seven of the final 22 coming from Bayern -- including the captain Manuel Neuer. Hamad International Airport and Qatar Airways are major sponsors of Bayern Munich. The Bayern team has been coming to Qatar for their Winter training session for years. Where was the players' righteous indignation against Qatari laws all these years?
I am not singling out Bayern, other major club teams from Europe have been enjoying Qatari hospitality for years as well. Why was it okay for them to accept Qatari money and hospitality before, and suddenly it isn't?
I also wonder where are these principles when these players and officials vacation in Dubai, or Maldives, or the Caribbean isles -- who all have the EXACT same laws as Qatar? The German Interior Minister NancyFäser wore the OneLove Armband sitting next to FIFA President in what I suppose is an act of defiance against Qatar. Where was this defiance when Germany signed an energy deal for Qatari LNG eight months ago, in light of Russian threats? Since Qatar won the World Cup bid 12 years ago, tens of billions have been invested in infrastructure projects here. A big chunk of it came from the European Banks and Pension Funds, with Deutsche Bank being one of the leaders. So, while over the last decade or so it has been perfectly okay for European economies to benefit from Qatar, suddenly Qatar is the evil one?
The anti-Qatar rhetoric argues that human rights are non-negotiable, and there are issues more important beyond football. Again, nobody is arguing with this. My issue is with the hypocrisy in its connotation. UEFA has repeatedly banned the Palestinian flag or any message supportive of Palestine in European football matches including the Champions League final, because their policies prohibit “illicit banners” with “messages that are of a political, ideological, religious, offensive or provocative nature.”
Almost all European football associations (including the German one) are in full support of that. So, if FIFA is to apply the same rule for the World Cup regarding “messages that are of a … provocative nature” why is that unacceptable for them? If politics is to mix with sports, then either it has to go all-in, or none at all. It cannot be a convenient pick-and-choose of issues that fit your narrative.
Nobody is claiming that Qatar is perfect, or that there aren't issues they need to work on. Having said that, they have made diligent efforts towards righting many of their deficits, and deserve recognition for that. Apart from the citizens, many Qatari residents are incredibly proud of their involvement in the World Cup projects and feel a strong sense of belonging and accomplishment.
This includes our own “remittance warriors” who love the fact that they literally built the stadiums where the likes of Messi and Ronaldo will play. It is disheartening for the people involved in organising, planning, running, and volunteering in this mega event that their efforts are being attacked on all fronts.
The deluge of negative propaganda in the Western press regarding Qatar, and nit-picking on trivial issues like the price of a burger in fan villages reek of jealousy and viciousness. If somebody dares to say something positive about Qatar, they are accused of succumbing to brainwashing or petro-dollars or both. This coordinated hyperbolic vitriol does more harm than good -- and the petty double standards leave me speechless.
Let them without sin cast the first stone.
Dr Shiban Khan is an academic and writer based in Qatar.
