The World Cup is about to head to the Middle East for the first time. Ever since it was announced back in 2010 that the tournament would be held in Qatar, the country has been getting ready to host the world’s biggest sporting event.
In this episode, the first in The Take’s coverage of the World Cup, there were some of the preparations for the tournament, their associated controversies and a preview of what might expect after kickoff.
Qatar is the first country in the Middle East to host the football World Cup but it has faced a wave of criticism since it was awarded the tournament in 2010.
When the the country faced widespread criticism from human rights groups for its previous use of the kafala system, responsding to all controversies from different quarters, even from some of the participants teams, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told that Qatar is Very welcoming country - “It is frankly unfortunate, entire world is welcome in our country. Most of the world are looking forward to the tournament that starts in Doha this month, and that the “attacks” were being made “by a very small number of people”.
About the security measure Thanis, the the deputy prime minister of Qatar, said that there would not be confrontations between security forces and fans unless certain behaviours put people in danger --- “That is the only situation in which they would intervene.”
But the Deputy Prime MInister Thani looked played a double standard when he again said, “This is true for any country – it is not unique to Qatar. Of course, there are still flaws and we are determined to fix them,” he said.
However, the Thani said there was a “double standard” in “systematically” blaming the Qatari government for the problems facing labourers, while in Europe, “the slightest incident is blamed on the company”.
