The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
The ba’s burst already for Qatar’s World Cup
Thrills destroyed by controversies casting a shroud over global event
Even before Scotland’s customary failure to qualify, this year’s men’s football World Cup in Qatar had an aura of insignificance about it. Well, from a footballing perspective, it did.
The stench of corruption circling the awarding of the tournament to a country neither capable nor deserving of it ensured organisers were facing an uphill, ultimately impossible, task to stage an event which would capture the imagination of the rest of the world.
Problem piled upon problem during the 12 years between the decision to choose Qatar as host country and the tournament kicking off with the thrilling spectacle of the home nation against the footballing giants of Ecuador.
The insurmountable issue is that it just does not feel like a World Cup. For a start, it is taking place in winter, meaning the domestic fixture list has been mothballed until Boxing Day. What on earth are people supposed to do at weekends now?
The various controversies surrounding Qatar’s use of migrant workers and its stance on same-sex
relationships and women’s rights have replaced the normal build-up of excitement to the big day.
We’ve hardly heard the words “it’s coming home” uttered by our southerly neighbours (yes, my fellow countrymen). Even the achievement of the Welsh team qualifying for the finals for the first time in 64 years has gone largely unnoticed.
International footballing events have long since ceased to be about grassroots supporters, with sponsors, politicians and anyone with deep pockets all burying their noses in the trough before Joe Average gets a sniff.
This one, however, has gone out of its way to make supporters
unwelcome. Sky-high costs for onestar accommodation, exorbitant food and drink prices, and then the ludicrous, last-minute decision to ban alcohol in and around the host stadia must make the intrepid few who have made the pilgrimage to Qatar wonder whether it was worth it.
If the opening match is anything to go by, with the stadium beginning to empty a full 20 minutes before the final whistle, this tournament will be remembered more for the apathy of the audience than the skills of its combatants.
It is early days, but all the evidence to date points towards the 2022 World Cup being a disaster; a spectacle with
the potential to cause collateral reputational damage to future tournaments.
From a personal perspective, as a lover of football and a supporter of England, I couldn’t care less if the team fails to make the knockout stages. And, in the highly unlikely event that football is, indeed, “coming home”, I will not be celebrating. Sophie Goodwin column, Page 55
I have mentioned in previous columns that my wife calls me Mr Grumpy because I become irritated at all kinds of things that are not really important.
Parents who believe their children
entitle them to preferential treatment; people who don’t know the difference between “there”, “their” and “they’re”; and drivers who think their new Audi or Range Rover justifies using two spaces in a crowded supermarket car park. It all rips up my knitting when, in truth, I should just shrug my shoulders and move on.
Now, a new pet hate has been added to my list – appalling customer service. In the last week, I’ve shed what’s left of my hair at a courier company which promised delivery on a certain day and actually managed it two days later; a major vehicle manufacturer which gave me a slot for servicing my motorhome and then cancelled the next day because its workshop ramps were not strong enough; and a video doorbell manufacturer which suggested the best way to resolve a problem with a brand new battery which discharges in less than a week was to bring it indoors out of the cold.
All these companies have one thing in common: they make it virtually impossible to speak to anyone in authority and leave the poor, underpaid call centre worker to absorb the flak. “Please do not reply to this email because responses are not monitored.” Grrrrrrrr.