Power
Qatar's Reckoning
The Netherlands has moved on. Nearly six months after the Football World Cup in Qatar, the debate about labor rights and the OneLove armband has faded. Meanwhile, the small emirate on the Persian Gulf continues to make waves. The World Cup's resounding success has not only left people wanting more, it has also stirred neighboring Saudi Arabia, its arch-rival. In Qatar, Jaap de Groot witnessed firsthand how international top sport has taken on a new dimension, with sport, power, politics and substantial sums of money increasingly converging. The Netherlands, for its part, watches from the sidelines.
The Netherlands has returned to business as usual. Almost six months after the Football World Cup in Qatar, the discussion has died down about labor rights and the OneLove bond. In the meantime, the small emirate on the Persian Gulf rumbles on. The resounding success of the World Cup not only leaves people wanting more, it has also woken up neighboring country and arch-rival Saudi Arabia. In Qatar, Jaap de Groot saw up close how international top sport took on a new dimension, with sport, power, politics and a lot of money increasingly coming together. And the Netherlands? It stands there and looks at it.
Working for media from Australia and the United States, you are pressed even more on facts that go beyond the question of who is at left back or whether 4-3-3 or 5-3-2 is being played. Much more attention is being paid to the tentacles that global top sport has extended towards almost all facets of society. As a result, it became clear on November 20, the opening day of the World Cup, that Qatar was already working on the sequel to the billion-dollar ball. That day, in the grandstand of the Al Bayt Stadium, was Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who had really not been clamoring for a ticket for Qatar – Ecuador at the ticket counter. Which made it clear how from the kick-off of the World Cup in Doha serious business used to be. The ball had not yet started rolling when Qatar started the lobby for the 2036 Olympic Games. After the mini-state had previously put itself forward as a candidate for the 2016 and 2020 Games, only unknown made it unloved. That is also the big gain from the World Cup for Qatar. Not only was the event a moneymaker of the best kind, it was also one of the best organized World Cups ever. This has seriously increased the chances of winning the Games. The IOC will make that decision in 2028 or 2029.
Migrant workers
In contrast to the allocation of the World Cup by the world football federation FIFA in 2010, criteria such as working conditions and human rights weigh heavily for Thomas Bach & Co in their assessment. Thus, Qatar still has six years to further improve, as started after 2010. Anyone who checks the reports from the UN and International Labor Organizations will see that positive changes have indeed taken place between 2010 and 2022. A nuance that is missing in the Dutch discussion. Also at the KNVB, which has a lot to worry about with main sponsor ING, because the bank was one of the major financiers of the World Cup. The Dutch attitude is mainly determined by two factors. First of all, the Dutch print media are under financial pressure and budgets are being cut so much that no journalists were sent to Qatar to explore before the World Cup. So people have to rely on social media and that's where an article went wrong The Guardian, who had a reporter travel to the emirate. The English newspaper wrote that 2010 migrant workers from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal had died between 2020 and 6.500. There was nothing wrong with this information, but something went wrong in the Netherlands with the interpretation of those 6.500 deaths. Anyone who had really looked into Qatar would have noticed that the country has 3 million inhabitants, of whom only 300.000 are Qatari. The remaining 2,7 million are mainly glorified fortune seekers from more than a hundred countries, attracted by the rapidly increasing prosperity. Because whether you are a construction worker from India or a banker from New York, you will earn four to ten times more in Qatar. In short, those 2,7 million non-Qatari are actually all labor migrants. However, various Dutch media ignored this and translated 6.500 dead migrant workers into 6.500 dead World Cup construction workers. How The Guardian then also indicated that the number in question had been taken out of context, this fake news would penetrate deeply into the Dutch discussion. Even renowned columnists such as Youp van 't Hek and Nausicaa Marbe used the 6.500 as an indication that Qatar was guilty of a mass murder. While reality shows that between 2010 and 2020 there will be 650 deaths per year, including migrant workers from Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh who died from diseases and traffic accidents. No document makes it clear how many deaths occurred during the construction of the World Cup stadiums. The above groups, with a total of 1,2 million, also make up 30 percent of the population in Qatar. This therefore concerns a mortality rate of 0,05 percent, while in the Netherlands this is 0,96 percent. However, it should be noted that the workers employed in Qatar are predominantly young and the mortality rate is hardly influenced by deceased elderly people. That is why Qatar's candidacy for the 2036 Olympic Games will be an important test of how far the country has improved after the World Cup. Because human rights are a spearhead of policy and assessment at the IOC.
Can't doesn't exist
The World Cup has shown that Qatar is a serious candidate for the IOC. It is unbelievable but true: an area the size of the province of Utrecht is already capable of organizing the Games. The Khalifa Stadium, where the Dutch team played against the United States, was already the setting for the Athletics World Cup in 2019 and the ultra-modern swimming stadium is ready for the Swimming World Championships to be held in January 2024. Furthermore, on the way to the El Bayt Stadium, located in the middle of the desert, I suddenly saw signs saying 'Olympic Cycling Track' and it turned out that the course for the Olympic road race had also been delivered ready-made fourteen years in advance. Just as the training site of the Dutch national team, on the campus of Qatar University, had all the contours of an Olympic village. No fewer than six training sites had been created within the enormous walled complex, surrounded by a perfect infrastructure and numerous apartment complexes. Another coat of paint and this accommodation is ready for use again. Can't doesn't exist in Qatar. It was also striking how quickly changes were made during the World Cup, just like earlier with the exodus of refugees in Afghanistan. Qatar was the first to create an air bridge to Kabul and ensured that some of the refugees related to the Netherlands could leave the country, after the Dutch government took action too late. Speed of action, which also became visible during the World Cup. Because the largest flow of visitors in the history of the country, which was only founded in 1951, was expected, initially only foreigners were admitted who were in possession of a match ticket. When the flow of supporters was well under control after two weeks, everyone was allowed back inside. You still had to justify yourself in the Netherlands if you went to Qatar, but the country was now visited by more people than ever. Not from the Netherlands and Western Europe, but from the American, Asian and African continents. The fan zones were also an indication. While the Johan Cruijff ArenA was closed after a week due to a lack of interest from the Orange Legion, the Al Bidda Park in Doha was ultimately visited by 1,4 million visitors.
New world order
While the Netherlands has turned away from Qatar, a different process has been set in motion elsewhere on earth. For example, after the World Cup was awarded in 2010, the population increased from 1.750.000 to 3 million. Almost a doubling in twelve years. For Emir Tamin bin Hamad el Thani, this is an indication that he must continue to focus on culture and sports to guarantee the growth of his country. Qatar is also joining the new world order. Just as in world politics, America, Asia and the Middle East also set the tone in sports, under the guise of 'he who pays, decides'. Europe, in this domain dominated by billions, is increasingly being transformed into a glorified Third World continent. Take the financing of the World Cup. While Dutch companies and the KNVB sponsors hardly dared to advertise, all sponsorship packages for Qatar were sold out. These 23 sponsors accounted for 1,3 billion euros (29 percent of turnover), but the composition of these 23 companies is also interesting. Only Adidas comes from Europe, the others come from Qatar (5), Asia (7) and America (10). After Qatar, there is no stopping the supply of FIFA sponsors. Ranging from Crypto.com from Singapore to Xero (small business via social media) from New Zealand and BYJU's (Tech from India) to Visit Las Vegas, a marketing agency related to the American gambling city. And what about Calm, a San Francisco-based organization that specializes in meditation and sleep problem solving? It makes it once again clear how the KNVB is lagging behind in the rapidly changing world of commercial top sport. Instead of lobbying for better compensation for clubs and better conditions for the merchandising of clothing sponsor Nike (there was hardly an Orange shirt for sale in Qatar), the football association did not deal in actions, but in statements. It made it painfully clear how federation chairman Just Spee and director of professional football Marianne van Leeuwen lack an international network and a political antenna for relevant developments. They walked around Qatar like cats in a strange warehouse.
