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2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar

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Updated Dec 19, 2022 at 09:40AM EST by Mateus.

Added Jun 25, 2018 at 03:08AM EDT by Kubokachan.

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Overview

2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar refers to the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup tournament, which takes place every four years. The competition is scheduled to take place in the country of Qatar, which is located in the Middle East, between 20th November and 18th December 2022. There will be 32 teams competing, including the 2018 champions, France, and the Qatar host team, which qualified automatically. Due to Qatar's geographic climate, the World Cup is being held from late November to December in order to avoid the scorching summer heat. The opening match will be contested between Qatar and Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor. The final is due to be held on 18 December 2022, which is also Qatar National Day.

Background

Bidding Process and Corruption Allegations

On December 10th, 2010, Qatar was named the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup,[1] beating out 4 competing bids by Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States, despite the nation of Qatar being deemed a "high operational risk" by the FIFA committee beforehand.[2] The decision came on the heels of a massive corruption scandal involving various FIFA officials as detailed in the Garcia Report.[3] However, the countries of Russia and Qatar were cleared of corruption allegations in 2017.

On August 6th, 2018, former FIFA president Sepp Blatter claimed that Qatar had used "black ops," suggesting that the bid committee had cheated to win the hosting rights.[4] Some investigations found that Qatar sought an edge in securing hosting by hiring a former CIA officer turned private contractor, Kevin Chalker, to spy on rival bid teams and key football officials who picked the winner in 2010.[5]



Migrant Worker Slavery Allegations

Qatar has faced strong criticism due to the alleged treatment of foreign workers involved in preparation for the World Cup, with Amnesty International referring to "forced labor" and poor working conditions.[6] An investigation by The Guardian newspaper claimed that many workers are denied food and water, have their identity papers taken away from them, and that they are not paid on time or at all, making some of them essentially slaves. The Guardian has estimated that up to 4,000 workers may die due to lax safety and other causes by the time the competition is held.[7]



Developments

Protests

The weeks leading up to the first matches in the 2022 Qatar World Cup saw a series of protests by football fans around the world. The countries of Norway and Germany protested the human rights violations reported to be occurring in Qatar during their respective qualifier matches in May 2021.[8] [9]

HUM AN 20 21 14 19 PERFOTO 13 RIGHTS 23 10 6 In 16 Tobias Schwarz/Getty Images/AFP


On November 5th, the Twitter[10] account @ESPNFC posted a photo of protests from Bundesliga club football fans holding up a banner that read, "15,000 dead for 5,760 minutes of football. Shame on you." The post gathered over 55,000 likes in nearly a week (seen below, left). On November 12th, 2022, the account posted another tweet[11] showcasing a protest by football fans, this time by fans in Hamburg. The post gathered over 20,000 likes in three days (seen below, right).


ESPN FC ESPI FC @ESPNFC ¹15,000 dead for 5,760 minutes of football. Shame on you.' Bundesliga fans are protesting against the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. RUSLAU EFCZURICH DERANGS KBO HURT nкOOK BUD otonination MORAL VALUES LIST FOOTBALL BEARS T UELSEN ADLER BRETTEN Dimmer-See AF 94 15.000 TOTE FUR 5.760 MINUTEN FUSSBALL! SCHAMT ENCH ало на SAW QATAR ABSCHALTEN! 12:02 PM - Nov 5, 2022. Sprinklr havio MEHR TOTE ALS SPIELMINUTEN BOYCOTT QATAR VENSTVERT BSW GRUNTER STADIEN CARUNITE'S BEER STAT NON T KICHER MONT be wa TAUSENDE TO 4 FORTLINE INTER ATAR 2 HET KOOK FHE! ESPIT FC ESPN FC @ESPNFC Hamburg fans protesting against the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. ZUB ROTHOS POYCOTT ATAS ENARBEIT BOYCOTT QATAR Cungsw EUR ZEL? 15.000 TOTE 8:39 AM Nov 12, 2022. Sprinklr SWEATE CLIQU 10S RE GEL FRAUENFEIND KEINE MEINUNGS FREIHE SCHEISS AUF-WM.KATAR FIFA UND STATTRESSEN IM-WINTER DEN AMA FOR A HAMBOR BANDA CAUTICA 18

On November 14th, @ESPNFC[12] posted a tweet quoting the captain of the French football team, reading "France captain Hugo Lloris says there's too much pressure to protest at the upcoming Qatar World Cup." The post gathered over 25,000 likes in nearly two days (seen below)

ESPN FC ESPI FC @ESPNFC France captain Hugo Lloris says there's too much pressure to protest at the upcoming Qatar World Cup. 99 ESPI FC CAF Ec U E FRANCE FFF 1:00 PM - Nov 14, 2022. Sprinklr CA € There's too much pressure on the players... If you have to apply pressure, first of all it had to be 10 years ago. Now it's too late. For players this opportunity happens every four years... The focus has to be on the field. The rest is for politicians. We are athletes. HUGO LLORIS on pressure for players to protest at the World Cup


Official Mascot La'eeb

The 2022 FIFA World Cup's Official Mascot is La'eeb. On April 1st, 2022, the official FIFA 2022 Twitter[21] account posted a tweet announcing the reveal of the official mascot for the then upcoming FIFA tournament. The mascot was named La'eeb, and resembled a flying white turban, also known as a Ghutra. The tweet gathered over 8,000 likes in nearly seven months (seen below).


FIFA World Cup @FIFAWorldCup → Official He's come from the mascot-verse full of energy and is ready to bring the joy of football to everyone! Introducing: La'eeb - the #FIFAWorldCup Qatar 2022 Official Mascot FIFA WORLD CUP Qatar2022 LaⓇeeb 12:06 PM - Apr 1, 2022. Twitter Web App Cet ar2022 *** FIFA TM

The mascot went on to become the subject of various memes, with a Facebook[22] page dedicated to football memes making a post about La'eeb on April 1st as well, alongside a caption that read, "The Qatar '22 mascot is a ghost, the ghost of dead immigrant workers building those stadiums." The joke was also used as the caption to an iFunny[23] post from 28th June, gathering over 3,000 likes in nearly four months (seen below).


Official mascot of the Qatar world cup is the ghost of all the workers that died.

"Fake Fan" Allegations

Before the World Cup started, multiple videos allegedly showed Fake Fans at the Qatar World Cup. On November 11th, 2022, TikToker[13] @aadhilnaleer posted a video showing fans decked out in blue and white showing their support for the Argentinian Football team in Qatar. The post gathered over 4.4 million plays and over 290,000 likes in four days (seen below, left). On the same day, TikToker[14] @msinusmk posted a video of fans supporting Brazil's football team by wearing their colors and dancing in the streets. The video gathered over 4 million plays and 190,000 likes in nearly four days (seen below, right).


https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7164746149407001858
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7164809150810148098

The videos went viral on TikTok and Twitter, with people noting the racial homogeneity of the fans, and claiming that they do not look native to the countries they claim to be supporting. Other football fans soon began to comment on this odd occurrence, expressing their belief that Qatar was actually paying people to act like fans and fill the stadiums at the World Cup.

On November 14th, TikToker[15] @nixonnzz posted a video compilation of distinctly southeast Asian men showing their support for various World Cup teams. The text overlay read, "Do they think we haven't noticed?" and the video gathered over 1 million plays and 80,000 likes in a day (seen below, left). On November 16th, TikToker[16] @dylan.page posted a video commenting on the videos of fans parading in the streets of Qatar, pointing out how some Brazillian fans were filmed sporting shirts that say "Brazil Fans Qatar." The video gathered over 300,000 plays in nearly a day (seen below, right).


https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7165770667097345285
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7164809150810148098

Claims about fans being paid and even imported from other Asian countries were repeated by commentators on Twitter as well.[17][18] These claims were also backed up by a Guardian article that outlines the various responsibilities of these paid fans, including interacting with social media posts.[19]

Alcohol Ban / Sober Zones

Due to Qatar's laws on alcohol consumption, World Cup organizers have announced the creation of designated "sobering up" zones as an alternative to wide-scale arrests of intoxicated fans during the World Cup. Qatar's World Cup chief executive of the supreme committee, Nasser Al Khater, was cited by Sky News as responsible for implementing the designated sobering-up areas, saying "It's a place to make sure that they keep themselves safe, they are not harmful to anybody else." According to ESPN, if a fan is sent to the "sobering up" zone, they will be permitted to leave when they can display clearheaded behavior.[20]

Qatar Goalkeeper

The Qatar Goalkeeper or Qatar Goalie refers to professional footballer Saad Al Sheeb who plays for the Qatar national team. The Qatar goalkeeper became the subject of memes during the first game of the World Cup, Qatar vs. Ecuador, after he was called by some the "worst footballer ever." Many joked about the Qatar goalkeeper being sent to jail or mysteriously disappearing due to his poor performance.


England Vs USA Match Ends In A Draw

On November 25th, 2022, England and the USA faced off in a group stage match. The game ended in a draw, resulting in disparate reactions from English and American fans. The reaction from British fans tended toward disappointment, while fans of the USA team remained jubilant at their team holding their own against a top-ranked football team.

On November 25th, 2022, Twitter[24] page @FirstEdition posted a video alongside a caption that read, "Watch the moment fans in London started throwing their drinks in frustration at the result." The post gathered over 3,000 likes in nearly three days (seen below).

On November 26th, the TikToker[25] @jacksonlsamuel posted a video of American fans at the match chanting, "It's called soccer," in a post that gathered over 500,000 plays and 5,000 likes in two days (seen below, left). Also on November 26th, TikToker[26] @thenekohashira posted a meme about England losing a match to a country that calls football "soccer," gathering over 1.3 million plays and 300,000 likes in two days (seen below, right).


https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7170154885462150443
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7170064931553938694

Brazil vs. Croatia (Brazil Eliminated)

On December 9th, 2022, the Brazilian team was defeated by Croatia on penalties in the quarterfinals. Fans lamented the elimination of Brazil in the World Cup with memes to cope with the situation, like @higorpaiva_ tweets talking about how he feels now that there is no Brazilian game during the week.

The Mexican sports journalist @ricardocarino shared a picture of a press conference in which one Brazilian staffer trowed a cat out a table saying it was for this action that Brazil lost the game.


TCL CIME KAVAK Kwa AUTHENTICA ItaĂş ANTARCTIC wal FIAT GOL TCL CIMED KAVAK Kwai

France vs. Morocco (Semi-Final)

On December 14th, 2022, Moroccos was defeated by France with a 2-0 score during the semi-final match of the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup. Throughout the game, many fans rooting for Moroccos celebrated the first African and Arab team to advance to the World Cup semi-finals[27]. Prior to the game, the page @brfootball posted on December 10th,2022 a tweet congratulating the team's country for reaching the semi-finals. The post garnered 214,800 likes and 49,000 retweets in five days.

The Moroccos team's aggressive play style during the game against France was also subject to memes on Twitter, like @TrollFootball post on December 14th, 2022, which received 3.,4 million views and 28,400 likes in an hour.

Argentina vs. France (Final)

On December 18th, the Argentinian Team won the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup against France in a thrilling match during the penalty shoot-outs. The final game generated several memes with the main players Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé rivalry, like this "God Of War (2018)": mod created by MH AnimationStudio[27].

People also made fun of Cristiano Ronaldo with montages of Messi doing a facetime with the Portuguese player to show the trophy, like @dimitrisanders_ tweet, which garnered one million views and 79,300 likes in a day.

Various Examples


Official mascot of the Qatar world cup is the ghost of all the workers that died. It's Casper's muslim cousin, Boohamed. Reply ↑ 2,469 21 "There will be no Colombian babes at the WC 2022 any more" FIFA World Cup 2022 Dead workers BERLIN (AP) An ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar has described homosexuality as a "damage in the mind" in an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF only two weeks before the opening of the soccer tournament in the Gulf state. FIFA This is the worst PR Everyone This is the worst PR so far 888 D 888 BRA 888 Italy did not manage to qualify for the 2022 World Cup Italy voluntarily removed itself from a non-ethical competition danny_dyer90 6h The British ambassador in Qatar when he realises that he will be bailing out hooligans out of Qatari jail for the next two months...

Search Interest

External References

[1] The Guardian – World Cup 2022

[2] Arabian Business – Qatar 2022 Bid

[3] Wikipedia – Garcia Report

[4]  The Times – Stepp Batter Says Qatar Cheated

[5] AP News – FIFA 2022 World Cup

[6] EuroSport – Amnesty Says Workers At Qatar World Cup

[7] The Guardian – Migrant Workers

[8] Twitter – brfootball

[9] Twitter – Hasse_Erikson

[10] Twitter – ESPNFC

[11] Twitter – ESPNFC

[12] Twitter – ESPNFC

[13] TikTok – aadhilnaleer

[14] TikTok – msinusmk

[15] TikTok – nixonnzz?

[16] TikTok – dylan.page

[17] Twitter – eurofootcom

[18] Twitter – JR_24X

[19] The Guardian – England And Wales Fans Being Paid

[20] Sky News – Sober Zone

[21] Twitter – FIFAWorldCup

[22] Facebook – TheRealALeagueMemes

[23] iFunny – The Official Mascot Of The Qatar World Cup

[24] Twitter – FirstEdition

[25] TikTok – jacksonlsamuel

[26] TikTok – thenekohashira

[27] YouTube – God of war Messi VS Mbappe Gameplay

Recent Videos 3 total

Recent Images 69 total


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