2022 Fifa World Cup: is football helping to bring about real change in Qatar?

Little more than a year before the tournament kicks off, the eyes of the world are increasingly turning to the tiny Arab nation

Georgetown University professor Danyel Reiche says it has made strides in tending to some international concerns

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The Al-Thumama Stadium in the capital Doha, Qatar. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:00am, 14 Nov 2021Updated: 1:00pm, 14 Nov 2021

When Qatar was announced as the host of the 2022 Fifa World Cup, the international reaction in 2010 was equal parts bewilderment and disdain.

Accusations of corruption in relation to the selection process were swift and rampant, and many cried foul, with the arid Arab nation winning the rights over the likes of the United States, South Korea, Japan and Australia.

Questions surrounding the choice began almost immediately. How could a devout Muslim country, with its questionable attitude to women, among other things, host people from all over the world? How could the sport be played in a desert with some of the hottest annual temperatures on the planet? How could Fifa turn a blind eye to the treatment of migrant workers, thousands of whom have reportedly died in the process of building the infrastructure necessary to host the event?

These issues have not gone away, but with little more than a year until kick-off, Georgetown University professor Danyel Reiche, who heads an independent research initiative called “Building a Legacy: Qatar Fifa World Cup 2022”, said the country’s leaders have responded to the criticism rather than deflected it on a number of key issues.

Reiche said one of the nation’s biggest challenges is simple geography, followed closely by its ambitious regional geopolitical goals and using Qatar 2022 as a “domestic development tool”.

Georgetown University professor Danyel Reiche, who currently lives in Qatar, said the country has responded to international criticism. Photo: Handout