With the leagues coming to a halt Sunday, a new week begins marking less than a week until the 2022 FIFA World Cup officially gets underway. 365Scores look at the rather unusual circumstances surrounding the event as well as the stringent laws, rules and regulations which fans and tourists will have to abide by while in the host nation of Qatar.
The 22nd edition of the World Cup will be the first of its kind, in the sense that the impending event will be the first held during the European winter and it will be staged in the Middle East for the first time in tournament history.
It’s almost time 🔜
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 13, 2022
We’re only 7 days away from the start of the #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/7ExvSU5MBd
With a new location are the accompanying laws which, in the instance of Qatar, are considerably draconian in modern society. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is the Emir (monarch and head of state) of Qatar since 2013 when he succeeded his father, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
In the early 20th century, a treaty saw Qatar become a British protectorate (a state partly controlled by but not a possession of) and this agreement lasted until termination in 1971, when Qatar gained independence.
The Arabian peninsula sits on the borderline of being an absolute monarchy and the state has been governed by the same family throughout its entire modern history. There have been eight rulers of Qatar, all of them descendants of the Al Thani clan.
(Photo by FIFA via Getty Images)
With Qatar now set to welcome a flock of travellers like never before, football fans and tourists will need to adjust from their daily lives and conform to the strict rules when on Qatari territory. More than one million people are expected to travel to the Middle East state ahead of the World Cup commencing Sunday, November 20.
Radha Stirling, founder and director of the Detained in Dubai legal aid group, said the following on Qatari law enforcement: “Qatar’s abysmal human rights record means that abiding by the law does not protect visitors from prosecution or wrongful detention.”
Sepp Blatter, former President of FIFA, recently admitted that awarding hosting rights to Qatar may have been a mistake. In a letter to all the national federations of participating countries, Gianni Infantino (FIFA President) last week called on relevant stakeholders to simply ‘focus on the football’.
The letter continued: “We know football does not live in a vacuum and we are equally aware that there are many challenges and difficulties of a political nature all around the world.
“But please do not allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists.”
Despite visiting a nation with an horrific human rights record, protestors and demonstrators are advised not to challenge Qatari authorities as they could face the full might of the law in unfamiliar territory.
Several well-known figures in wider society have taken to social media to denounce the backward society in Qatar. The World Cup host nation has come under loads of scrutiny for the state’s treacherous treatment of migrant workers in preparations for the tournament.
One of the most controversial and critical laws in Qatar is the state’s medieval approach to same-sex conduct, which is punishable by up to seven years in jail. With Qatar subject to a strict Islamic code, all sexual contact between unmarried couples is unlawful.
Women in Qatar are not protected by the law and their rights are severely restricted. Being a victim of sexual assault typically results in a female being prosecuted for inter-marital sexual relations.
(Photo by Christopher Pike/Getty Images)
The consumption of alcohol in public spaces is forbidden in Qatar, and an offence could land the perpetrator up to six months behind bars. British newspaper The Sun reported that ‘protestors at the upcoming World Cup could be slapped with a five-year prison sentence’.
Moreover, less severe actions such as taking photos without permission, flirting, swearing and arguing are also considered felonies in Qatar.
This edition of the FIFA World Cup is certain to be different, in many ways, to previous tournaments and it remains to be seen whether Qatar 2022 will forge a positive legacy.
