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UpdateWorld Cup Qatar 2022: from finding alcoholic drinks (but not in stadiums) to getting a room and transport, all you need to know
- Workers’ and LGBTQ rights aside, the Qatar World Cup was always going to be different: here are some of the things visitors can expect
- Accommodation in Qatar is hard to find, but transport looks good, and alcoholic drinks will be served in places – although not in stadiums, an 11th-hour U-turn
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It is, without doubt, the most controversial football World Cup of all time. Even Sepp Blatter, former president of Fifa, the body that awarded the competition to Qatar, has admitted it was a mistake to hand it to such a tiny nation without a footballing pedigree.
On one hand there are concerns, including criticisms of Qatar’s treatment of the migrant workers who have built the country’s infrastructure, some of whom have lost their lives in the process. The lack of LGBTQ rights – same-sex sexual activity is a criminal offence in Qatar, punishable with up to seven years in jail – has added to calls from around the world for a boycott of the tournament.
On the other hand, many in the Middle East are thrilled that the football juggernaut has arrived in the region – and in a Muslim nation – for the first time, with some who spoke to the Post about Qatar’s hosting of the tournament suggesting that attempts to undermine it are based in part on racism.
As well as being the first World Cup held in the northern winter, there are other unusual aspects to the competition itself.
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