The World Cup is up and running in Qatar, but controversy continues to surround the tournament.
‘The Guardian’ reported that several English and Welsh fans are allegedly being paid to promote the event with a generous offer.
These fans are said to have been given free tickets to the opening ceremony as well as fully paid flights to the event and free accommodation for a minimum of 14 days.
This offer came at the price of a ‘certain terms and conditions contract’.
According to ‘The Guardian’, they must attend ‘selected and scheduled’ events that promote a positive image for the host country.
Fans will also appear in a short section of TV coverage during the opening ceremony. Organisers told the potential travellers that “ideally, we hope you will stay for the entire duration of the 29-day tournament”.
This ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity was given to members of the group, ‘Fan Leader Network’ who Qatari authorities say, “contribute to tournament planning through fan insight, research, content creation and message amplification,” reported by ‘The Guardian’.
The contract has been rumoured to encourage positive posting by fans as well as re-sharing posts and flagging social media content critical of the event.
According to ‘The Guardian’, the conditions have been compared to that of a social media influencer with a paid promotion.
Although, these terms have not discouraged some fans as it has been reported by ‘The Times’ that 40 English fans and 40 Welsh fans have agreed to take up the offer as well as fan representatives from all 32 countries.
Photo credit: Robin Hursthouse, The Guardian
This year’s tournament is expected to be double the cost of the 2018 World Cup held in Russia.
‘The Guardian’ reported that a letter was sent from “President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino to the general secretary of the Fatma Samoura, calling on all 32 competing countries to put concerns over the host country to one side and let football take the stage.”
Whilst ignoring the pressing concerns over human rights in Qatar, Infantino wrote that “there are many challenges and difficulties of a political nature all around the world,” but football should not be expected to have the answer to every one.
Qatar is said to be building seven stadiums for the World Cup accompanied by a new airport, a new metro station, many new roads and approximately 100 new hotels.
The Qatari government has said that about 30,000 foreign labourers have been hired, originating mostly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Philippines to build the new stadiums.
The ‘BBC’ reported that on 14 August at least 60 workers rallied outside Al Bandary International Group’s Doha offices in protest about unpaid wages. Some reportedly had not been paid for seven weeks.
According to the ‘BBC’, “a number of protesters were detained, and some were deported, although it’s not known how many.”
Many people have spoken out about the terms and conditions and said that they are not surprised by the host country’s actions.
As the tournament progresses, concerns are rising over the constant setbacks and last-minute changes that have been made. Despite this, the show goes on.
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