DOHA —
One week from kickoff, the
World Cup trophy returned to Qatar on Sunday, teams,
and fans started arriving, and safety barriers went up across Doha.
اضافة اعلان
The trophy,
which will be presented to the winning team on December 18, returned from a
world tour in time for next Sunday’s opening game when hosts Qatar take on
Ecuador.
FIFA’s pleas to
“focus on the football” have, however, struggled against an international
spotlight on Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers, women, and the
LGBTQ community. Qatar has rebuffed most of the attacks, and local media on Sunday
blasted the “arrogance” of some Western countries.
“It seems to
have been all we have read about in recent weeks,” said Ringo Gonzalez, an
Ecuadoran based in Germany, who was among fans gathering at the World Cup
countdown clock on the Doha seafront early Sunday.
“It will be good
to see the teams finally doing something. I want Ecuador to do well and to see
Lionel Messi and the other big names in action.”
The US team has
already arrived in Doha and Australia joined them on Sunday. Qatar is
predicting more than one million fans will be in the smallest country to host a
World Cup, and many have already arrived in the capital.
Many star
players were still involved for their European clubs on Sunday in the final
matches before the season is paused for the World Cup.
Lionel Messi,
Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe were all named in the starting lineup for Paris
Saint-Germain (PSG) against Auxerre in Ligue 1.
In Doha port,
the giant newly built cruise ship, MSC Europa, was to be officially named on
Sunday before it welcomes thousands of World Cup fans.
No champagne for
ship naming
In a concession to Qatar’s Islamic culture that restricts alcohol and
bans gambling, a bottle of rose water was to be smashed on the hull instead of
traditional champagne for the inauguration, and the ship’s casino was to be
closed while it was in port.
Three cruise
ships will house up to 10,000 fans, and MSC said the Europa was fully booked
for the first two weeks of the 29-day tournament.
On land,
barriers have gone up on main streets and around metro stations and stadiums as
security forces brace for the football invasion.
Organizers say
that 2.9 million of the 3.1 million tickets have been sold, and scores of
hopeful fans waited outside the FIFA ticketing center, hoping that scarce
tickets become available for top games.
Matthew Coleman,
an Australian living in
Doha, and his Dutch friend Gijs Beenker, left
empty-handed because there were no “interesting” matches available.
At a nearby
World Cup souvenir store, the staff said Europeans who buy the official ball or
the La’eeb mascot were the main clients.
Migrant workers from South Asia have bought
thousands of replica Brazil and Argentina shirts and can be seen wearing them
in the streets. The laborers have been at the center of an often acrimonious
dispute over deaths, injuries and their working conditions since Qatar was awarded
the World Cup in 2010.
European and
Qatari media on Sunday kept up their war of words over whether the energy-rich
Gulf state should host the event.
One British
newspaper said that many fans believed that Indians in Qatar had been “paid” to
take part in rallies supporting Argentina and Brazil. Thousands of migrant
workers flocked to the march on Friday.
In response,
Qatar’s Al-Sharq newspaper said the anti-Qatar campaign “confirms the arrogance
of some Western countries who believe organizing the World Cup must remain
monopolized by them”.
Al Raya said “the
enthusiastic, festive atmosphere of large crowds of football fans of different
nationalities in Doha revealed the failure of smear campaigns led by some media
and Western politicians against the 2022 World Cup”.
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