Doha – It was around 07:00 pm in Doha and the chairman of the Fifa, Joseph Blatter, had already announced Russia as the host to the 2018 World Cup. The ANBA reporter was in a taxi cab heading from the City Center mall, the city’s most popular, to Souq Waqif, a market filled with stores and restaurants and the meeting point for tourists and locals alike, when the honking began and a huge motorcade was formed virtually from out of nowhere: Qatar had been chosen to host the 2022 World Cup.
Huge sports utilitarian vehicles, one of the most favoured means of transport in the country, took over the streets driven by youths, with more youths sitting at the windows, on the hoods of the cars and in the back of the trucks, almost all of them talking on the mobile. In a country fuelled by fossil fuels, popular marches, particularly sports-related ones, are motorized.
At the souq, brimming with people, a large screen was produced for the people to watch the announcement of the host countries to the World Cups that will follow the 2014 Cup in Brazil. Everything – the Fifa event and the people gathering at the square – was broadcast live by the Qatari TV network Aljazeera.
Amidst locals and foreigners – most of the Qatari population is comprised of expatriate workers –, it did not take long for the vuvuzela horns to start sounding off, in the best style of the South African World Cup held this year. On the souq’s streets, men, women and children held flags, scarves and T-shirts in purple and white, the colours of the country’s flag.
"Mabrouk," which means "congratulations" in Arabic, was the most heard word. "Congratulations to Qatar," said Ibrahim, an elderly man who celebrated among the crowd. "The joy is mine and of the whole city," he claimed, adding that he was already expecting his country to be chosen to host the 2022 Cup.
The emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Tani, who attended the Fifa ceremony, did not spare financial and political efforts in order to bring to his country the most popular sports event in the world.
The Qatari government has promised to build sumptuous stadiums whose shapes are reminiscent of traditional symbols of the region, such as the oyster, a reminder of pearl hunting, and the "dhow," a wooden vessel widely used in the Gulf until this day. The arenas are even going to boast air conditioning, so as to alleviate the scorching heat of the Qatari summer.
A massive marketing campaign was carried out. Doha is filled with huge billboards related to the bid. T-shirts, caps, banners and all sorts of promotional memorabilia are on sale across the city. National flags and ads of the country’s bid for hosting the Cup are all over the streets.
It does not quite match what takes place in Brazil come World Cup time, after all the Qatari culture is much more restrained and conservative, but there is one thing that the two countries do have in common: the passion for football.
"[The Cup] will be held in the Middle East for the first time!," said the young Ibrahim Al Mansouri, who was watching the gathering at the souq. "It has not sunken in yet, it will take a few weeks for me to get used to the idea," said he, in Arabic. The ANBA reporter counted on support from the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce‘s translator, Saleh Hassan, in some of the interviews.
"No one gets to sleep tonight," said Mansouri. In fact, the traffic jam that took place along Doha’s large avenues lasted throughout the evening. Al Corniche, the coastline avenue, was impassable.
The youth would not risk guessing who he thinks may win the 2022 World Cup, but claimed that the Qatari team will surely be better prepared than it is today. "Inshaallah (God willing)," he finished off.
Policeman Omar claimed that he was very happy that his country had been chosen, and that he was "80 percent hopeful" of his country’s victory. As to the favourite to win the Qatari Cup, he was emphatic: "Brazil."
Sport of the land
Outside the party, there was also some indifference. Salespersons at the souq went about their business, after all Thursday is the eve of the weekend in Qatar, and even without the Cup, the place gets crowded.
The young Taleb was more interested in another type of sport. He was visiting a falconry shop, which sells animals and equipment for training falcons, a popular activity in the Gulf.
Taleb explained that the most expensive falcon of the year was sold for 250,000 Qatari rials, the equivalent of approximately US$ 69,000. However, it is a local bird, and according to him, the pricing varies greatly depending on the animal and its origin. The cost may range from 25,000 to 50,000 rials (US$ 7,000 to 14,000), for instance, according to him. Still, when asked whether he was happy about Qatar having won its bid to host the World Cup, the boy promptly replied: "Of course!"
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
