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by Tom Kludt
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Journalists and broadcasters covering a World Cup don’t get a chance to unpack their luggage. The project is the one that regularly sends them rushing from one airport to another, exploring the vast expanse of a host country, rarely staying in a position for long. Barney Ronay, sports editor for The Guardian, flew 17 flights in 30 days to cover the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. John Strong, Fox Sports’ premier play-by-play football announcer, likes to joke that he was given “silver prestige at the Siberian airways” 4 years ago when the festival was held in Russia. “We were constantly on the move,” said Strong, who will be part of the squad covering Monday’s first game in the U. S. U. S. Against Wales. ” We would call a game, drive to the airport and leave at 1am. m. , then go through Moscow to get to the next city. “
This year’s World Cup in Qatar, which began Sunday, won’t be such a heavy travel burden. Visiting media staff will only use two flights, one for arrival and one for departure. Doha radius, located in and around the capital. “The biggest update is how we are coming to live and exist,” said Jon Champion, who will provide a detailed observation for British broadcaster ITV. It will be the first World Cup hosted in winter, a move to avoid Qatar’s sweltering summer heat, and Champion says it will also be the first time he couldn’t possibly live in his suitcase. “I will be able to set up camp in a hotel room in the middle of Doha, and I will spend each and every night, no matter where my game calls,” said Champion, who has covered each and every men’s World Cup from Italy. ’90. “The longest vacation I will face is 40 minutes. “
These logistical anomalies offer some practical benefits: less hectic management will lose more time to act in the field; however, this may be the only simple component of covering the 2022 World Cup, where hounds accumulated in Qatar place it almost to treat it like any other gaming event. This year’s edition of the tournament will prove to the gaming media that they have struggled to avoid politics at a time when gambling is increasingly political.
“We, as a media outlet, have a duty to cover the tournament, from the most sensitive to the lowest, and it’s not just the football side,” said Paul Tenorio, national soccer reporter for The Athletic, who covers its first World Cup. Cup in Qatar.
The resolution to hold the tournament in the tiny Gulf state was surrounded by accusations of corruption, and the organization of the event is now considered a human rights tragedy. being used for the World Cup has drawn foreign condemnation. A report published last year via The Guardian found that 6,500 of the staff members had died since it was decided that the country would host the tournament in 2010.
There are also considerations about how the host country will treat its visitors. Homosexuality is banned in Qatar, although, according to The Guardian, law enforcement has agreed to exercise restraint when faced with public displays of affection from members of the LGBTQ community. The press cannot derive advantages from such leniency. Organizers have imposed restrictions on where and what media can document, banning filming or photographing residential properties, personal businesses and government facilities. The government’s difficult stance has already led to incidents. Last week, Qatari security officials interrupted live filming of a Danish TV crew on the streets of Doha and threatened to tear up its photographic equipment; World Cup organizers later apologized and said it was a mistake.
“There is genuine hostility between the media, the enthusiasts and the host country that I have never experienced before,” said Ronay, who is covering his third men’s World Cup this year. “The intention is for it to be so. ” Ronay fears there will be no more incidents between journalists and Qatari authorities, but he also believes the tense atmosphere causes the media to stop covering the occasion strictly through the prism of sport. “There’s only one story,” Ronay said, “and the story is, ‘What the hell are we all doing here?'”
Smaller in dominance than Connecticut and less populous than Kansas, Qatar is easily eclipsed among the 17 countries that once hosted the World Cup. “It’s crazy when you take a look at the history of where this tournament was played: Uruguay, Argentina. , Spain, Italy, Mexico, all those vital nations for football,” said Sam Wallace, football editor of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. Then there’s Qatar.
Wallace in Zurich that night in 2010 when FIFA stunned the sports world with its Qatar national team, making it the first country in the Middle East to host the tournament. the tournament and an underground subway. ” Everything is new,” said Sam Stejskal of The Athletic, who is staying in an apartment with Tenorio on the outskirts of Doha. The ground floor of the building houses a Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Krispy Kreme, either of which have just opened. “It’s a bit like a country that’s ready for a World Cup,” Stejskal said.
The new infrastructure built through Qatar’s immigrant worker population, most of whom are from South Asia. There are only about 3 million people in the country, but only 300,000 of them are citizens of Qatar. The rest are expatriates from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. Wallace arrived in Doha earlier this month, long before most of his colleagues. He spent the first few days exploring the city on one of the many electric scooters available. On one of his first nights, Wallace stumbled upon a giant collection of Argentine fans, almaximum all Indian expats. As he continued, Wallace saw another organization of Indian expats, but this time they were dressed in the colors of Brazil. “I think I met a Qatari national,” Wallace said.
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There was a similar scene last week when many so-called English supporters, mostly Indian expats, piled up at the team’s hotel, prompting accusations that they were being paid to create a lively atmosphere. World Cup organizers have strongly rejected those claims, but there is no precedent for similar arrangements. When Doha hosted the World Athletics Championships in 2019, organizers brought in migrant staff and schoolchildren to reinforce low attendance at the event. . )
For those on the pitch in Qatar, it’s hard to separate the splendor of the World Cup from those who have struggled to make it possible. Stejskal attended an educational consultation for the U. S. team. of migrant personnel. FIFA organizers presented the adjustment as a token of gratitude to the staff and their contributions to the World Cup, but Stejskal had to look beyond the unpleasant elements.
“For me, it was a summary of the total tournament,” Stejskal said. “On a micro level, if you take out the context, it’s fun and satisfying. But when you think about everything that is a laughing and satisfied thing has a much darker side.
Stejskal, covering his first World Cup, said he compartmentalized the experience, separating his enthusiasm for the festival from his finesse about how it went. “I try to separate art from artist,” he said.
Other gambling enthusiasts have been forced to make a similar deal, as world football has been turned upside down this century due to access from several oil-rich Middle Eastern states. Manchester City has become the most dominant club in England thanks to the generosity of its owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates. Another English club, Newcastle United, was bought last year through the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Fuel reserves, players have also played on this front. Qatar’s public shareholding is owned by Paris Saint-Germain, a team of galacticos led by Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar.
These acquisitions are widely noted as examples of “gameshing” textbooks, in which a country with a tarnished symbol uses a beloved game to whitewash its reputation. The 2022 World Cup may be the ultimate expression of that. “The game and the geopolitical strength of those tournaments is indivisible,” Wallace said. “This is a tournament that was held here for the glorification of a very small and very rich geographical region that cares about its position in the world. That is why we are ICI. Si there is no possibility that we would be here without gambling policy.
Qatari officials responded to scrutiny of the tournament, accusing some critics of racism and Islamophobia. Others have observed a double popularity in Qatar’s convictions. Piers Morgan, who said he would finish the games as a Fox pundit, questioned the consistency of the protesters. opposite to the host of this year’s World Cup. “Once you start putting on your ethical halo, where does it end and who is ethically blank enough to host a World Cup?” said Morgan in an interview on a British podcast last week, referring to “draconian” abortion legislation in the U. S. and the invasion of Iraq.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino echoed those sentiments over the weekend. In a fierce news conference on the eve of the tournament’s opening match, Infantino defended Qatar and rebuked Western critics for their “hypocrisy. “He added: “I think for what we Europeans have been doing in the world for 3,000 years, we apologize for the next 3,000 years before we start giving ethical lessons,” Infantino said.
Qatar said more than 12,000 bloodhounds have been accredited to cover the World Cup, some of whom are content to stick to sports. who has little preference for having interaction in controversies outside the field.
“If a story affects the betting field, if it affects the festival in the tournament, we’ll cover it completely,” David Neal, the executive maker of Fox’s World Cup presentation, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “If it’s not, if it’s incidental to the tournament, if it has to do with the construction of the venues or whatever, we’re going to let other entities cover it. We are fully focused on the 64-match tournament. Neal said enthusiasts prefer it too, telling The Inquirer that “viewers come to Fox Sports the World Cup to watch the biggest sporting occasion in the world. “
World Cup organizers obviously expect broadcasters to stick to the sport. Earlier this month, Infantino and FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura sent a letter to the 32 groups taking part in the World Cup, urging them to “focus on football” and to be “involved in any ideological ideas or political battles that exist. “
When we spoke earlier this month, two days before his flight to Doha, Fox Sports’ Strong said the demands of his task prevented him from tackling much further than the game itself. “One of the most important things they teach you when you’re a player. . . The playstation is communicating what’s on the screen,” said Strong, who will call up the final World Cup for Fox next month. “As the game goes on, it’s hard to get into other things. “
Strong spoke indirectly about the controversies surrounding the tournament, calling them “vital issues” and praising the “really vital journalism” that has been done on the issues. “I think we all have our opinions,” said Strong. De fact, Strong and other play-by-play commentators like Champion have as their primary directive to tell the audience and contextualize the occasions on the ground. “It would be very damaging to get into this as a broadcaster in some kind of crusade,” Champion said. But in Qatar, the controversy will never be far from the festival itself. Champion said he would be “very surprised to go through the full World Cup and not be forced to enter this territory. “Several players are expected to wear rainbow armbands as a sign of repudiation of Qatar’s anti-gay policy, which Champion said would require a mention on the air. And any reference to suitable sites can push an advertiser into thorny territory.
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“You normally move on to those broadcasts and see how glorious the stage is for the game and what a glorious task they’ve done in the stadium,” Champion said. “How do you do that when you know that at the same time you have such controversy about the situation of the migrant personnel who built this magnificent cathedral?
Fox was keen to step away from politics by broadcasting the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which was also accompanied by a foreign denunciation of the host country’s human rights record. Veteran football editor Grant Wahl was part of Fox’s canopy in Russia. When his contract with the network ended in 2019, Wahl said he decided not to seek an extension.
“It was largely because of what he had noticed with his technique in Russia, and knowing that his technique in Qatar would be very similar,” Wahl said. Wahl noted that NBC’s Mike Tirico provided a frank and critical investigation of human rights in China. This year’s previous record network policy of the Beijing Winter Olympics. “They didn’t sink their heads in the sand like Fox does with Qatar,” Wahl said.
Wahl had hosted a podcast with former football star Landon Donovan, the U. S. World Cup qualifier. They planned to continue the series during the tournament in Qatar. on the podcast. A Fox spokesman did not respond for comment.
Wahl arrived in Qatar last week for what will be his eighth men’s World Cup and third stop in the country. He made a first stop in 2013 while applying for Sports Illustrated to report on the country’s arrangements to host the tournament, interacting primarily with Qatari officials. “What I learned on this vacation was that once they knew I was here, they looked to schedule me, so I was so busy during my stay that I wouldn’t have time to do freelance reporting,” he said.
Wahl, who now writes for his own independent website, returned to Qatar earlier this year for another reporting trip, but this time he recalibrated his approach. He has not spoken to any government officials or announced his location on social media. Instead, Wahl devoted his stopover to interviewing migrant staff. He sought to know whether the country had succeeded in a series of reforms aimed at providing a greater point of coverage for such personnel. respectable on the ground,” Wahl said. In my experience, Qatar almost treats staff as if they were invisible. “Qatar’s government did not respond for comment.
Wahl was encouraged to report on the issue because, as he said, “once the tournament starts, I expect most of my business to focus on football. “It could also be more difficult to cover those topics over the next month. Wahl has already clashed with the Qatari government since his arrival last week. While at the media accreditation center, he said, he berated him through a security officer for taking a photo of a slogan posted on the wall. Wahl said the officer told him to delete it from his phone.
This meeting, as well as the incident involving the Danish TV crew, only raised fears that the host country would interfere with the media’s ability to report freely on the event. Organizations such as Reporters Without Borders have denounced restrictions imposed through the Qatari government on where media can film.
It also adds more sadness to an occasion that is classically explained through its carnival atmosphere. Photos of fan villages, where visitors will sleep in plastic tents and rooms that look like shipping containers, have drawn comparisons to the Fyre Festival. The compact nature of this year’s tournament will make it less of an odyssey compared to the classic World Cup experience, in which visitors are presented with a great taste of a country’s other cultures and geographies. “To me, it looks like it will be a World Cup without the bright colors,” Champion said. “I think one position will look a lot like another. “
It is already guaranteed that it will be the World Cup with less water. Alcohol is very limited in the conservative Muslim country and is usually only allowed in some designated hotels and restaurants. Wahl, who is staying at a house with 3 other reporters covering the World Cup, lamented that he may not have a bottle of wine or a six-pack of beers after a long day at work. “I literally can’t have alcohol in my house,” he said. Qatar’s organizers made a last-minute replacement on Friday, just two days before the opening match, when they announced a ban on beer sales in stadiums. Liquor sales will now only be allowed at the FIFA Fan Festival and other designated venues. He remains positive about his ability to generate joy. “The World Cup continues to bear fruit,” he said. He hasn’t let us down yet. “
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