The World Cup is a huge global sporting event with an audience running into the hundreds of millions.
But as the latest competition kicks off in Qatar, it's heavily mired in controversy.
Following anger over the initial decision to award the competition to the country, in 2010,
the chorus of condemnation has continued to grow.
Even the former head of FIFA, football's World governing body,
has said that the tournament shouldn't have been awarded to the country.
So, just how did Qatar get the World Cup? And why has it proven so controversial?
Hello and welcome to the channel. If you're new, my name is James Ker-Lindsay and here
I take an informed look at international relations, conflict, security and statehood.
In recent decades, public diplomacy has become an
increasingly important part of any country's foreign policy.
International relations is no longer just about how governments interact with each other.
It's also become about how countries project themselves to other audiences on the world stage.
One of the most interesting and important ways that countries
can send a positive image of themselves is through sport.
Although often extremely expensive, holding an
event like the Olympics - or even a single major international events or competition,
such as a Formula One Grand Prix - can have a dramatic effect on a country's standing.
As well as the tens or hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit the country in person,
millions, if not billions, more will watch on television or online.
Naturally, this sports diplomacy, as it's often known, can provide a particularly
welcome opportunity for states that are looking to enhance, or even clean up, their image.
But this in turn can lead to considerable controversy.
A particularly good example is Qatar.
The decision to award the 2022 World Cup to the country was met with heavy criticism.
The state of Qatar lies on the eastern shore of the Arabian Peninsula.
Jutting out into the Persian Gulf, it has a land border with Saudi Arabia.
At 11,500 square kilometres,
or 4,500 square miles, it's the 158th largest member of the United Nations.
Its population is around 2.9 Million.
Although firm figures aren't available,
it's believed that just over 10 percent are native Qataris.
The large majority are instead guest workers those from South Asia.
India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are believed to make
up a little over half the country's inhabitants.
In addition, there are large communities from the Philippines,
as well as Egypt, Sudan and other Arab states/
The country's GDP is currently around US$61,000 based on purchasing power parity,
which is used to try to make better comparisons between countries.
This makes it the wealthiest country in the Arab world and in the top five of countries worldwide.
While it's believed that human settlement in Qatar stretches back to prehistoric times,
it appears to have been sparsely inhabited until around 250 to 300 years ago.
Having been part of the Islamic caliphate that emerged in Arabia in the 7th Century,
its modern history really begins in the late 18th century when various tribes arrived.
One of these was the Al Thani,
who eventually established the dynasty that rules the country to this day.
Having come under Ottoman rule in the late 19th century,
in 1916 Qatar formally became a British protectorate.
Still relatively underdeveloped, this changed with the discovery of oil in the 1930s.
Over the following decades, its economy rapidly developed and on 3 September 1971,
it gained its independence from Britain.
Soon afterwards, it joined the United Nations alongside three other new Gulf States
that have previously been under British colonial rule: Bahrain, Oman, and United Arab Emirates.
Following independence, the country continued to grow, driven by the oil price boom of the 1970s.
However, as the decade came to an end, the regional security situation
became more uncertain following the revolution in nearby Iran.
As well as forming the Gulf Cooperation Council with neighbouring Arab states,
Qatar retained close ties to the West.
This came to the forefront of international attention when,
in 2003, the United States moved its main military hub in the Gulf to the country.
It was also around this time the Qatar experienced another major economic boom.
While oil remained an important source of revenue,
the growing demand for natural gas transformed the country's fortunes.
With 15 percent of known reserves, it soon became one of the world's largest exporters.
Flush with cash, the ruling family now began to increase
the country's regional and international standing.
Keen to present an image of political openness,
it began to invest heavily in a range of major projects.
One of its flagship initiatives was the Al Jazeera television news channel.
First established in 1996, in 2006 it was nationalised;
becoming the main news network in the Arab world.
On top of this, it also began to launch other major projects.
As well as building museums and galleries,
it encouraged foreign universities to open campuses in Qatar.
At the same time, it began to look but hosting major sporting events.
By far the most ambitious of these was the announcement,
in 2009, that it would bid to host the 2022 football World Cup.
Although the first officially recognised International football match took place
between Scotland and England in 1872, the origins of the World Cup date back to the
establishment of the International Federation of Associated football, FIFA, in May 1904.
Originally set up by seven national associations - Belgium, Denmark,
France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland - the organization grew
significantly in the 1920s, organising the football competition at the 1924 Olympics.
In 1928, it decided to host its first World Cup tournament.
This was held two years later in Uruguay with just 13 teams.
Following competitions held in 1934 and 1938, in Italy and France respectively,
the Second World War forced a break until 1950, when the tournament was hosted by Brazil.
As the World Cup's popularity continued to grow, and the tournament became ever larger,
extending to 32 teams, so the competition to host the event became steadily more intense.
And this in turn spurred controversy.
In 1988 there was an international outcry when the United States beat
Brazil and Morocco to host the 1994 competition.
Although FIFA argued that the decision was meant to drive football's growth in the country,
which didn't even have a professional league at the time, the general view was
that the decision had in fact been led by financial considerations.
But far greater controversies would arise when, on 2 December 2010,
FIFA announced the host for the 2018 and the 2022 competitions.
The decision to award the 2018 competition to Russia led to widespread anger given
Moscow's invasion and occupation of Georgia just two years earlier.
This would only grow when Russia subsequently invaded an annexed Crimea, in Ukraine, in 2014.
Nevertheless, and despite calls for the competition to be moved elsewhere,
or for countries to boycott the event altogether, the tournament eventually went ahead as planned.
However, it was the announcement that Qatar's bid to host the 2022 competition
had been successful - beating bids from the United States, Australia,
Japan and South Korea - that would cause indignation amongst many observers.
For a start, while Qatar hailed the decision as the first time a Middle Eastern country would
hold a major sporting event, many argued that it was wrong to award the tournament
to a country with no tradition of playing, let alone hosting, world-class football.
Indeed, its national team had never even qualified for the World Cup finals.
On top of this, there were also serious questions about the logistics of hosting the tournament.
Any host country would need at least eight top-flight stadiums.
Qatar had just one.
Could it really build another seven in the time available?
And then there was the question of the heat.
The World Cup usually takes place in the summer months,
when the football season in the northern hemisphere has ended.
However, temperatures in the Gulf at that time of year will
often reach as high as 50 degrees centigrade.
This is far too hot for fans, let alone footballers trying to play 90 minute matches.
While some of these issues were eventually tackled - for example,
by building fully air-conditioned stadiums and moving the competition to the late
Autumn to avoid the heat - the controversies surrounding the tournament only increased.
Just months after the announcement,
allegations began to emerge that Qatar had bought the competition.
As reports of endemic corruption with FIFA came to light, leading
to high profile arrests in 2015, Qatar strenuously maintained its innocence.
However, the US Department of Justice has since published findings suggesting that FIFA
officials had in fact been bribed to award the tournaments to both Russia and Qatar.
On top of this, new controversies began to arise.
As the massive construction projects continued to build the new stadiums,
the roads, railways, hotels, an airport, and even a new city required for the competition,
reports appeared detailing the terrible conditions faced by the army of foreign workers.
As well as poor and unsanitary living conditions,
deaths were mounting from building site accidents and from the extreme heat.
Indeed, by the end of 2021, it was claimed that over 6,500 workers
had died - and many believe that the number could be significantly higher.
Then there were concerns about Qatar's human rights record and its adherence to Islamic law.
Worries grew about the safety of visiting fans as extramarital sex,
including same-sex relations, is punishable by up to seven years in jail in the country.
While the Qatari government insisted that no arrests would be made during the games,
governments have nevertheless warned their citizens to be careful and respect local customs.
As a result, many have questioned why FIFA, which has a commitment to inclusivity,
ever awarded the World Cup to a country with such a restrictive approach to LGBT rights.
Despite all these controversies, there's been little, if any,
sign that FIFA has ever had any intention to change its decision and move the competition.
As a result, there's been growing calls by various groups for fans to boycott the tournament.
This not only includes staying away from Qatar,
but also by refusing to watch the tournament on television or online.
Meanwhile, even though FIFA has remained publicly committed to its decision,
behind the scenes it appears that it may well regret its choice.
Sepp Blatter the former head of FIFA who oversaw the decision to award the games to
Qatar, and was later tried and exonerated for corruption, has spoken out about the decision.
Just a couple of weeks before the start of the competition, he said that he
regretted awarding the tournament to Qatar, calling it "a mistake" and "a bad choice".
As for Qatar, it certainly seems to feel deeply aggrieved about the negative reaction it's faced.
Speaking about it all, the young Emir of Qatar, the country's ruler, has said
that his country faced an unprecedented degree of hostility over the decision,
laced with "fabrications and double standards".
All this has made the World Cup in Qatar one
of the most controversial major sporting events of modern times.
And, of course, one must wonder whether Qatar now regrets its decision to host the tournament.
Perhaps it does - at least at the moment.
But one suspects that ultimately it won't.
Despite the calls for the boycotts, it's likely that hundreds of millions of people
will still watch the competition and will be wowed by the matches
and the lavish facilities that have been built - albeit at a high human price.
In this sense, the World Cup may well achieve its goals.
If so, it will have been an incredible example of how small countries,
especially ones endowed with natural resources, and therefore a lot of money,
can leverage major sporting events to substantially raise their international profile.
I hope you found that useful. If so, here's some other videos on
international relations that you might enjoy, or find use useful.
Thanks so much for watching and see you in the next video.