After criticism, smooth World Cup seen as crucial to Qatar

DOHA. — After a bumpy road to the football World Cup marked by criticism of its human rights record, Qatar has much riding on the tournament passing off smoothly if it is to be remembered as a success and helps affirm Doha’s place on the global stage.

The controversy that has long surrounded the decision to award Qatar the World Cup has built to a crescendo, with unrelenting scrutiny of its treatment of migrant workers and the LGBT+ community prompting the Qatari Emir to accuse detractors of double standards and fabrications.

As Qatar prepares for kick-off tomorrow, the measure of success will be pulling off a tournament enjoyed by fans that concludes without major incident, allowing Doha to switch attention away from the criticism, analysts say. The stakes are high for a tiny Gulf state with a national population so small — Qataris number around 350 000 — that they could fit into the eight new stadiums built for the occasion.

For Qatar, which has survived as an independent state since 1971 in an often hostile neighbourhood, hosting the World Cup is part of a wider strategy of playing an outsized role in global affairs. A major gas exporter, it hosts U.S. troops, mediates in conflicts, and finances the influential Al Jazeera news network.

“There has been so much negative coverage focusing on labour rights and human rights. The running of the World Cup is the only opportunity that Qatar sees for redemption,” said Marc Owen Jones, an associate professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. “The markers of a successful World Cup would be as a nation-branding exercise, to position Qatar as an important sports hub in the Middle East and the wider Arab world,” he said. — AP.