One week to go to the toilet in Qatar – then the fans took over the streets of Doha.
or…?
New images circulating from the host country raise questions about what is real and what is not.
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar will be a special tournament by all accounts. Initial talk was about allegations of bribery, anti-gay laws and slavery-like conditions for migrant workers, but now there is only a week left until the ball is set in the desert country.
What will the frame look like? It is not yet clear, but new images circulating from the host country give a hint of what’s to come.
In videos from the streets of Doha, hundreds of men in suspicious, well-organized groups can be seen hanging out in match shirts from the various countries participating in the World Cup.
A group of Portuguese, a group of Englishmen, a few hundred brasses, a sea of Argentinians.
Or is it actually a scam?
Offered flight invitation
It is already known that Qatar has offered about 1,600 people an invitation ride to the restroom with a demand in exchange for “singing at the opening and spreading positivity on social media.”
“We choose a rhyme or song from your country that you know”This was stated in a document seen by the AP news agency.
Not the first time
In this case, this will not be the first “audience trick” for Qatar in the tournament. During the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, credible reports emerged that organizers had ordered a group of around 50 people to sit as close as possible to the BBC studio and be ignored when English sprinter Dina Asher-Smith ran home with the 200m gold.
In this way, it looked as if the race had been set in front of crowded booths when in fact the arena was deserted.
The FIFA World Cup kicks off in Qatar next Sunday.