The 2022 World Cup in Qatar hasn’t even started yet, and it’s already going viral for all the wrong reasons. Fan accommodations are reminiscent of Fyre Fest, the food doesn’t look great, everything is expensive, and some of the fears of Qatar hosting an international community are already coming true.
So, yeah, not going great thus far.
The feasibility and morality of the Qatar World Cup has been questioned since the day FIFA selected it as the host nation. In summary: U.S. prosecutors have alleged the selection process 12 years ago was corrupt, and since then it’s only gotten worse. The dates had to be moved because it’s too hot to play soccer in the Qatari summer, the country has strict rules outlawing homosexuality, and there have been widespread allegations of serious abuse and mistreatment of migrant workers who built the tournament’s infrastructure. Given the secrecy from Qatar, it’s tough to know the actual death toll, but by some counts, thousands of workers have allegedly died.
Qatar had to build the infrastructure for the World Cup from scratch, and they reportedly spent $300 billion on infrastructure projects to accommodate the 1.2 million soccer fans who are likely to arrive for the sporting event. However, the tournament starts on Sunday, Nov. 20, and fans and journalists arriving on the grounds are discovering first-hand the reality of Qatar’s rush job.
First things first, the World Cup fan accommodations don’t seem great. For $200 per night you get to stay in a shipping container. There were also tent villages that looked incredibly barebones in a video that went viral this week.
Pretty much everyone online made the same connection to Fyre Fest, the doomed music festival that made national headlines in 2017.
And, to be fair, the jokes do seem to have some validity to them. The pop-up villages, one of which is located by the main airport, were created because Qatar’s hotels couldn’t handle the number of fans, athletes, and other World Cup travelers.
Oh and the food in the fan villages? Not ideal from one viral pic we’ve seen thus far. (One is reminded of Fyre Fest’s infamous cheese on bread.)
If you want alcohol — which, let’s be real, this is the World Cup and lots of people do — then you’ll probably have to do a bit of searching. And you’ll have to pay up. Public alcohol consumption is banned in Qatar, with exceptions made for the World Cup. But it is super expensive and difficult to find because the government wanted it hidden away. In fact, just a few days before the tournament was set to start, high ranking Qatari officials reportedly demanded beer tents from major sponsor Budweiser be moved out of sight. If you do find a beer, it’ll reportedly run you $14. People online are not happy about that price.
And last, but certainly not least, things have already grown contentious between Qatar and the foreign press. Officials interrupted a live Danish broadcast about the World Cup, threatening to break their camera. Not a great first viral report from the ground.
The first kick hasn’t even happened yet, and the 2022 World Cup already seems like a bit of a disaster.
