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Agence France-Presse

The diplomatic crisis sweeping the Gulf could invigorate a campaign by critics of Qatar to strip Doha of the 2022 World Cup, experts say.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen were among those to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on the grounds that Doha supported extremist groups “that aim to destabilise the region”.
One of the areas that could feel the impact is Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup, football’s biggest tournament, in five years’ time.
“This is a massive escalation in pressure on Qatar,” said Kristian Ulrichsen, a Gulf analyst with the Baker Institute at Rice University in Houston. “I think it will really have an impact if it lasts any time.”
Since being controversially chosen by Fifa in 2010 as the host, Qatar has maintained that it is a politically secure nation despite its location in a volatile region.
Doha has also emphasised that the tournament serves the entire Gulf, and not just the tiny gas-rich emirate.
Nasser Al-Khater, a senior figure with Qatar’s World Cup organising body, recently claimed that up to 1.3 million fans would visit Doha in 2022, the majority from the Gulf and “mainly from Saudi Arabia”.
But current events may challenge those notions, Ulrichsen said.

“One of its pitches [to secure the World Cup] was that Qatar is one of the most stable countries in the Middle East,” he said.
Fifa sponsors express ‘grave concerns’ over Qatar World Cup labour conditions
With that potentially called into question – and the fact that there are other countries which could host the event at little notice – organisers may be getting anxious, Ulrichsen said.
“Qatar will know that there are alternatives, so they will be looking over their shoulder,” he said.
Suggestions have been made previously that the United States, one of the countries that lost the race for the 2022 competition to Qatar, could take over hosting duties if necessary. China would also no doubt be keen to step in.

The crisis that erupted on Monday came only a few weeks after US President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia to cement ties with Riyadh and called for Muslim countries to unite against extremism.
In a brief statement, football’s governing body Fifa said it was “in regular contact” with Qatar 2022 organisers and had “no further comments for the time being”.
Giving Qatar World Cup was mistake, Fifa president Sepp Blatter admits
Simon Chadwick, professor of sports enterprise at Britain’s Salford University, said the diplomatic crisis “raises an important issue of risk assessment and contingency planning” for the World Cup.
“The closer we get to 2022, the more Qatar becomes exposed. In terms of reputation and embarrassment, this is a big issue for Qatar,” he said.
“As a country, Qatar likes to hedge, in regional terms it hedges and I think it’s being forced by countries and organisations to stop that. I think there’s an awful lot to be resolved in five years.”
Already the first sporting victim of the crisis has been claimed.
Saudi football club Al-Ahli said just hours after the cut in diplomatic ties that it would end its financial association with Qatar Airways, taking to Twitter to announce “the termination of the sponsorship contract between the club and Qatar Airways”.

A three-year sponsorship deal, worth an estimated US$16 million a season with the Doha-based carrier was originally signed in October 2014 and renewed in May this year.
Another potential early victim could be this year’s Gulf Cup of Nations, scheduled to take place in December in Doha.
Qatar had stepped in as host when Kuwait was stopped from hosting following its ban from Fifa.
Among the nations set to take part include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, who all cut diplomatic ties on Monday.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE also announced they were suspending flights to Qatar and banned their citizens from travelling to Doha.
Winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup was a major coup for Qatar, which has used its natural gas riches to promote its international profile. The country has said it is spending almost US$500 million every week on major infrastructure projects related to the tournament.


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Qatar diplomatic crisis

Will Gulf crisis see Qatar stripped of football’s World Cup?

Fans outside the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, after it was refurbished for the 2022 World Cup. Photo: AFP

Nasser Al-Khater (R), a senior figure at the World Cup organising body, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy poses for a photo with Spanish footballer Xavi Hernandez, who currently plays for the Qatari football club Al-Sadd, during a tour of the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on May 18, 2017, after it was refurbished ahead of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. Up to 1.3 million fans will visit Qatar during the 2022 World Cup, according to Nasser Al-Khater, a senior figure with the body organising Qatar's World Cup, a figure equivalent to half the Gulf country's current population. / AFP PHOTO / KARIM JAAFAR

Migrant workers sit at a restaurant in the Qatari capital Doha on December 6, 2016. Ever since being chosen as the 2022 World Cup host, Qatar's labour laws have been internationally condemned and kafala has been at the heart of that criticism. / AFP PHOTO / STRINGER / Qatar OUT / QATAR OUT

A picture taken on May 18, 2017, shows labourers working at Khalifa International Stadium after its redevelopment ahead of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. Up to 1.3 million fans will visit Qatar during the 2022 World Cup, according to Nasser Al-Khater, a senior figure with the body organising Qatar's World Cup, a figure equivalent to half the Gulf country's current population. / AFP PHOTO / KARIM JAAFAR

Amnesty International accuses Qatar of abusing Fifa World Cup workers

A view of the construction work at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. Photo: Reuters

A view of the construction work at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, March 26, 2016. Workers in Qatar renovating a 2022 World Cup stadium have suffered human rights abuses two years after the tournament's organisers drafted worker welfare standards in the wake of criticism, Amnesty International said. REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon

Migrant labourers work at a construction site at the Aspire Zone in Doha, Qatar, March 26, 2016. Workers in Qatar renovating a 2022 World Cup stadium have suffered human rights abuses two years after the tournament's organisers drafted worker welfare standards in the wake of criticism, Amnesty International said. REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon

Fifa sponsors express ‘grave concerns’ over Qatar World Cup labour conditions

A combination photo of World Cup workers. Photo: AP

Kuttamon Chembadnan Velayi from Kerala, India, speaks to journalists while sitting on his bed in a room he shares with seven other Indian laborers in Doha. Photo: AP

Nischal Tamang from Nepal takes a break in his work, in Doha. Photo: AP

An official makes a point using a scale model of the Al-Wakra Stadium, currently under construction. Photo: AP

Labourers head back to their housing at the end of their workday. Photo: AP

A security guard stands in front of a new government-run facility built to accommodate some 70,000 laborers in Doha. Photo: AP

Gulf split: Qatar isolated after seven countries cut diplomatic ties over accusations of support for extremists

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, escalating a crisis that started over Qatar’s relationship with Iran and its support for ‘terrorist’ organisations including the Muslim Brotherhood. Photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO - An aerial view of Doha's diplomatic area March 21, 2013. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad/File Photo TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

(FILES) This file photo taken on May 21, 2017 shows US President Donald Trump (R) shaking hands with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, during a bilateral meeting at a hotel in the Saudi capital Riyadh. FBI investigators are helping Qatar in efforts to trace the source of an alleged 'hack' of state media which sparked diplomatic tensions in the Gulf, a source close to the probe said on June 2, 2017. An FBI team has been in Doha the week prior, after the Qatari government requested US help following an unprecedented security breach by hackers last month, the source told AFP. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN

(COMBO) This combination of file pictures created on June 5, 2017, shows (L to R) Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in New York on September 20, 2016, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on March 2, 2017, Saudi King Salman in Riyadh on January 1, 2013, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, in Riyadh on May 05, 2015 and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. Gulf states on June 5, 2017 cut diplomatic ties with neighbouring Qatar and kicked it out of a military coalition, less than a month after the US president visited the region to cement ties with powerhouse Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as well as Egypt all announced they were severing ties with gas-rich Qatar, with Riyadh accusing Doha of harbouring "terrorist and sectarian groups that aim to destabilise the region". / AFP PHOTO

Saudi army artillery fire shells towards Houthi movement positions at the Saudi border with Yemen April 15, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Will Gulf crisis see Qatar stripped of football’s World Cup?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Experts say the diplomatic crisis sweeping the region could invigorate campaign

Experts say the diplomatic crisis sweeping the region could invigorate campaign