Qatar's rise on the world stage aims to achieve new heights with the World Cup, but can the country's ambitious plans mesh with its traditional culture?
As the World Cup has neared, the government has begun aggressively pushing back on the criticism, which the emir called “fabrications and double standards.”
That tension between welcoming visitors while monitoring their behavior may be one reason there was little tangible buzz on the soon-to-be snarled streets of the capital as the World Cup approached. Although flags of the 32 participating countries flapped in the warm desert breeze before strip malls and office buildings and La’eeb, the child-like tournament mascot who looks like Casper the Friendly Ghost, was omnipresent on banners, T-shirts and department store displays, the hype felt forced.
Three weeks ago, municipal officials swept through more than a dozen apartment buildings in Doha’s Al Mansoura district, evicting 1,200 foreign workers, many of whom were given just two hours to leave their homes. Government authorities said the evictions were unrelated to the World Cup, but apartments in the neighborhood were listed on websites designed to help visiting fans find accommodations.
Even Sepp Blatter, the disgraced former FIFA president who presided over the vote that awarded the tournament to the country in 2010,“It’s too small a country. Football and the World Cup are too big for that,” he told Swiss outlet Tages-Anzeiger this month. A traditional dhow boat floats in the bay outside Doha, Qatar, in November 2021. Once a staple of transportation in the tiny emirate, the boats are primarily used by tourists looking for scenic views of the modern Doha skyline.
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