FIFA World Cup 2022 has given Qatar international recognition leading to an increase in its visibility and status quo, thereby helping it gain transnational soft power. https://www.sganalytics.com/blog/qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022-controversies-explained/

1. FIFA World Cup 2022 – A
Crescendo of
Controversies, Outflow,
and Class
performances
The 2022 World Cup was nothing short of controversies, enormous
spending, and high-level, spectacular performances, not to

2. mention the scintillating performance of Argentina and how it
sealed its victory with the 4-2 penalty win against France at the
World Cup final on December 18, 2022. The inevitable question is
whether the extravaganza was worth it, even for a small but gas-
rich host like Qatar! The middle eastern country spent over $200bn
preparing for the mega-event spanning over 12 years since it was
awarded the rights to organize the most-watched sport by more
than half the world. This, interestingly, is approximately 16 times
more than the money invested in the previous 2018 World Cup held
in Russia and other prior editions that now look incredibly cheap.
The organizers and especially Fédération Internationale de
Football Association (FIFA), however, maintain that the FIFA 2022
World Cup has been a tremendous success, with approximately
three million tickets having been sold by the mid of October and a
record surge in TV audiences as the games ensued till the final
day. While the tournament marks Qatar’s and the region’s foray
into the sports world — with the Middle East heavily investing in
European football clubs to the next Formula 1 race to be hosted by
the region and Saudi Arabia’s LIV tour aiming to control
professional golf — it has been marred by controversies right from
the start.

3. Most notably, the ‘controversial host,’ Qatar, has been in the eye of
the storm for its political system, religious and cultural beliefs, and
forbidding women and LGBTQ communities and alcohol to the
event (though it seemed to have lifted some rules to dodge
criticism), and for using sports washing to cover its treatment and
working conditions of migrant workers.
The host nation is also being criticized for disrupting the European
league schedules, raising concerns over players’ exhaustion and
injuries, apart from disputing its carbon-neutral approach to
hosting the World Cup. FIFA made last-minute changes to the
schedule by shifting the games towards the end of the year than
hosting them in the summer to evade Qatar’s heat.
Read more: FIFA 2022 gets more Inclusive, Interactive, and
Accurate
FIFA 2022 transforms greenfield in the
semi-arid desert region
Qatar did not have the infrastructure, namely hotels, highways, or
even stadiums, to hold the competition when it was selected in
2010 to host the biggest sporting event ever. As a result, the
country employed ex-pats to build eight stadiums for the FIFA 2022
World Cup over a span of ten years. Even the cost of building the
infrastructure for FIFA 2022 was questioned, with Russia’s news
agency TASS stating that Qatari officials confirmed $200bn to be
the highest total expenditure for building the infrastructure.
However, TASS reports suggested the actual cost of building the
eight stadiums to be $6.5bn, or roughly between $8bn and $10bn,
as highlighted by the country’s Supreme Committee for Delivery
and Legacy (SC) earlier in 2016.

4. Source: Google
It was the first time in 92 years that the quadrennial event arrived
in the Middle East, making it the biggest sports event to take place
in the region. It was also the first global event to be held post the
Covid-19 restrictions that kept fans away from Beijing’s winter
games and the Tokyo Summer Olympics. Additionally, it was also
the first World Cup to have hosted events across 31 miles of Doha’s
primary Corniche. However, the compact space was more of an
advantage than failing, say, organizers, as most stadiums were
connected to public transport, electric buses, and metro systems
for people to access and travel quickly between games. Qatar also

5. constructed new airports and districts within Doha, its capital city,
as part of the tournament’s infrastructure projects.
Read more: Offsides: How FIFA’s New Semi-Automated
Technology Can Change Football
Source: Ashghal, Qatar’s Public Works Authority
FIFA 2022 puts Qatar on the global
stage
Despite controversies, FIFA 2022 has boosted Qatar’s international
repute, with the country now looking to develop its infrastructure
further and streamline its foreign policy objectives.
Qatar’s vision of a global society
FIFA 2022 World Cup Qatar is in line with Qatar’s long-standing
quest to modernize its identity and make the country a business
and tourism hub like its regional competitor Dubai. This is further
reiterated in the Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030), which
aims at making the country an advanced society, self-sufficient in
developing and providing a higher quality of living for its citizens. In
fact, the nation’s development goals are directly linked to the
World Cup to promote the sustainability post the event.
It is not the first time that a sporting event has helped transform
and resurrect a city. The 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona,

6. Catalonia, Spain, for instance, is an archetypal tale of how tourism
and infrastructure development assisted in reviving the Spanish
economy.
Increasing research on the subject, however, points at the
economic benefit of such mega-sporting events to be short-lived
or a myth, with no visible boost in the long run. Qatar has been no
different, with fewer fans having descended onto Doha in the first
two weeks of the match against the estimated 1.2 million,
unfinished apartments, empty buildings, fans returning to their
home countries before the end of the World Cup due to expensive
fan villages and dearth of tickets, and migrant and low-income
workers eventually leaving the country as construction works dry
up post the World Cup.
Read more: How is Cutting-edge Technology Transforming the
Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 Experience
Focus on boosting its non-energy economy
Qatar’s economy thrives on liquified natural gas (LNG) exports,
which are mostly supplied to Asian buyers through long-term

7. contracts. With a native population of just about 350,000 Qataris,
the tiny country is poised for a bumper year, driven by soaring oil
prices. The country is also looking to expand its capacity amid
growing demand for LNG and Europe’s energy crunch.
However, the country has been striving to develop its non-energy
economy with the bigger goal of becoming a regional tourism and
business hub, and FIFA 2022 is the first step in the direction of
realizing this goal. Qatar authorities claim that several projects
were delivered before their timeline due to the World Cup deadline.
A new city was built north of Doha, along with a state-of-the-art
shipping port and a new metro system.
Source: Source: Ashghal, Qatar’s Public Works
Authority, Bloomberg Intelligence
According to developers, about $45bn was spent on building Lusail
city, north of Doha, which was a desert in 2010. It is expected to
house as many as 200,000 people. The World Cup final between
France and Argentina took place at the Lusail Stadium as
planned.

8. Some challenges lying ahead of Qatar, however, include Europe’s
waning dependence on fossil fuels that could make LNG less
valuable. Qatar supplies almost a quarter of its LNG to Europe.
Additionally, economists believe that non-energy commercial
activity will slow down after the World Cup, leaving apartments,
buildings, hotels, and residential units empty and incomplete.
Read more: 2022 FIFA World Cup Controversy: Should Migrant
Workers be Given Compensation?
Continued investments in infrastructure
development
One of the biggest downsides of hosting mega international sports
events is the poor return on investments. As a result, despite
Qatar’s economy getting a boost in 2022-2023 due to the FIFA 2022
World Cup, it is expected to witness a slump by 2024. The
challenge for Qatar, therefore, is to build on the current
infrastructure investments to maintain strong GDP growth. As
construction slows down and expatriates retreat, the country will
need to focus on modernizing its infrastructure further. This will
help in expanding its transportation, business, and economic
activities. Additionally, the construction of roads and ports is also
likely to boost manufacturing activities.

10. Qatar authorities are already looking at utilizing the stadiums for
local communities. The larger stadiums will be refurbished to
encourage local football teams, while the smaller stadiums are
expected to be converted into medical, educational, and business
facilities.
Foreign policy goals
FIFA 2022 has given Qatar international recognition, thereby
helping it gain local and transnational soft power. While the World
Cup has led to its increased visibility and status quo, the
government is focusing on using this as an opportunity to
strengthen its national security. For instance, the government has
introduced new methods and mechanisms to promote workers’
rights, such as the announcement of a new minimum wage
program for ex-pats in 2020.
Qatar is also strategically located in a tumultuous region,
surrounded by stronger resources such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, and
Iran, and has been accused of funding terrorism in the past. This
led to substantial unrest and trade fallouts in the region, with
peaceful ties being restored only in 2021 with the help of US
intervention. The World Cup fame now brings an opportunity for
Qatar to ward off such threats in the future.
Read more: FIFA 2022 World Cup Qatar: Why is the Event Still
Mired in Controversy

11. Soft-power gains
Despite doubts over the utility of the infrastructure that the country
has built for the FIFA tournament, it is expected to provide some
economic benefits and scope for soft-power achievements.
However, the government is now focusing on repurposing its
infrastructure developments and is bringing in new reforms to its
migration policies to improve its foreign policy affairs.
Qatar’s power to leverage FIFA 2022 World Cup as a vehicle to
improve its geopolitical position and GDP is now dependent on
how it acts on its current strategies and assurances. While the
Middle East is most likely to host more sports tournaments in the
future, Qatar has positioned itself as an important hub for regional
and global sports, trade, and communications.
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