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, and weathered an unprecedented storm. It has won the sportswashing battle. It just lost the soccer game.The striking absurdity of this World Cup rose along Al Shamal Road, a main highway that cuts out of Doha and, past rubble and excavators and nothingness, and up to Al Khor. The landscape gets more barren as you go — until, in the distance, a massive Bedouin tent-style structure, the Al Bayt Stadium, appears through miles of smog and dust.
It was built by people, migrants, who aren't here anymore; and for other people, Qataris, who crawled in SUVs down the highway toward it on Sunday. Which is. But for better or worse, on a cool, windy evening, it began. Dads in thobes, the traditional Qatari male dress, and giddy kids in maroon Qatar jerseys gazed up at the stadium in awe. The white of the thobes blended with color, all sorts of color, in the expansive open spaces around the arena. There was the bright yellow of Ecuador, but also a vibrant mix of fans from at least 16 different nations, including the U.S. And there was, at least in spurts, the type of festive atmosphere that only a World Cup can create.
But there were also the inescapable reminders of the inequality that underpins both Qatar and this World Cup. There were hundreds of migrants, mostly South Asians, standing outside one entrance for hours — as they. Meanwhile, there were men on camelback and horseback lining another entrance to greet FIFA president Gianni Intanino and the Emir, among others. Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman joined them in a luxury box.
All around the cavernous stadium, there were probably 40,000 Qataris out of 67,372 — and they were not at all representative of the nation they came to salute. Spend a week in Doha, in any non-downtown district, and you’ll meet the Indians, Nepalis, Kenyans, Ugandans and more who come to work. Migrants and the children of migrants comprise almost 90% of the Qatari population.
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