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Diameter Globalism The cup will be the first on Arab soil, but despite the excitement in the Middle East, the excitement is not universal in a region usually united by its passion for football.
Although the November 20-December 18 tournament is geographically close for many Arab fans, the high cost is an issue as a mixture of crises and economic woes plague much of the Middle East and North Africa region.
“Accommodation and transportation costs are exorbitant,” said Makram Abid, who runs a 40,000-strong Facebook fan page for Tunisia, one of the four Arab teams that qualified along with Qatar, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.
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Abid told AFP that Qatar “could have offered preferential prices” to fans in the region, although Qatar says it has subsidized the cost of accommodation available on its official portal.
Abed was one of several fans contacted by AFP in a poll of supporters across the region, which has a population of more than 400 million.
Football historian Paul Dyche told AFP that the World Cup finals traditionally attract more affluent supporters than the weekly football clubs, whose fanbase is often mostly working-class.
Deci said the World Cup in Qatar “reinforces” the global trend of a widening gap between rich and poor.
Even in oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which has the largest economy in the Arab world and shares a land border with Qatar, fans said the costs were high.
“You have to get a loan to attend the three (group) matches,” said 25-year-old Saudi student Muhannad, who asked that his full name not be used.
– Supported flights –
According to FIFA, Qatar topped the list of countries whose tickets for the World Cup were purchased, which amounted to nearly three million.
The two Gulf neighbors, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, are among the top 10 buyers of tickets.
In fact, Saudi Arabia has made more accommodation bookings than any other country, according to the Qatar Organizing Committee.
Egypt, which is considered an Arab attraction for football, did not qualify, but some are still planning to travel, including Amr Mamdouh, who is looking forward to his Gulf visit.
He said that “flights to Qatar cost half the cost” of those trips to Russia, which hosted the 2018 World Cup.
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Thousands of Arab expatriates residing in the Gulf are scheduled to board the daily air bridge of more than 160 shuttle flights between Qatar and its neighbours.
Among them is Fadi Bustros, a Lebanese resident in Dubai, who will take the one-hour flight to Doha and return the same day.
But Bastros fears the “real World Cup atmosphere” is missing, given the controversy over Qatar’s hosting and the unprecedented schedule in winter rather than summer, when many fans prefer to travel.
In Morocco, authorities have announced subsidized flights to Qatar, but they still cost around $760. For Yassine, the 34-year-old Moroccan who attended the 2018 World Cup, an opponent is not motivation enough.
“The World Cup is synonymous with beautiful atmosphere, human encounters, carelessness and celebration,” he said.
Qatar does not meet these criteria.
– ‘Soft power’ –
Yassin bought tickets to see Morocco but then canceled his trip due to the “restrictive” rules in conservative Qatar, where entertainment options and access to alcohol are still limited.
Fellow Moroccan Wassim Rayan, who also went to the World Cup in Russia, said he too would skip the trip to Qatar, “a country without a footballing history or festive culture”.
Football descended on the Arabian Peninsula in the 1970s, with an influx of oil companies and expatriate workers – much later than the rest of the Middle East, which was under French and British colonial rule.
In Egypt, the first football clubs were established after the First World War.
According to Dietschy, soccer fans follow two trends in the Arab world.
In countries such as Morocco, Iraq, Syria and Algeria, “soccer is popular and attracts fans” in stadiums, said Dice.
But in other countries, including Qatar, football is “more of a show to watch on TV” as well as a tool of “soft power”.
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