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One of the most controversial World Cups in football's history is all set to get underway in a few days. Right from LGBTQ+ fans' security issues to the alcohol ban, the Qatari government is under scrutiny for human rights and other issues concerning migrant labourers too. But despite all that the World Cup is different from the rest of the World Cup and let's find out the reasons surrounding that.
WINTER WORLD CUP
Football World Cups are usually held in the summer but it would be difficult to organise a summer world cup because of the heat waves in the middle east. Keeping those issues in mind the World Cup is organised in November and it has affected the international calendar.
NO ALCOHOL SALES AT STADIUMS
Football and alcohol go hand in hand and after the intervention from Qatar's royal family, the sale of alcohol has been banned as well. Europeans, South Americans, and other touring fans would be gutted by this decision and it won't be shocking if people refrain from traveling.
FIRST WORLD CUP IN MIDDLE EAST
To avoid any boycotts or controversy, FIFA began a pattern of alternate world cups between America and Europe, which continued until the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Asia. This World Cup will be the first time the grand tournament is organised in the Middle East.
EXPENSIVE WORLD CUP
After building new stadiums for the World Cup, Qatar will benefit from the stylish and expensive architecture. The purpose behind building all that was to highlight the Arabic tradition and culture through it but it all came at $6.5 billion. The total cost of hosting the Qatar world cup is reportedly around $220 billion. When you compare the spending to the previous World Cups, the amount will surprise everyone as the 2014 Brazil cost $11.5 billion and the Russia 2018 about $14 billion. The gap between the last two World Cup spending and this World Cup is quite evident and tells you the lengths Qatar is going all in for the mega event.
CRITICISM OVER DEATHS OF MIGRANT WORKERS
More than 6,500 migrant workers are thought to have died in Qatar from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka alone from when the country was awarded the World Cup in 2010 to 2020, according to a Guardian investigation last year.
The Qatar government said the total was misleading, because not all the deaths recorded were of people working on World Cup-related projects.
Amnesty International says there are no exact figures because the Qatari authorities have failed to investigate the deaths of thousands of migrant workers over the past decade.
